Summer Air
by sableambiguity
Summary: Since the war, peace has reigned. But when a plague strikes in the Earth Kingdom, the fate of the world depends on restoring the balance-a feat unachieved since the airbenders were lost. Is there hope for a cure? Various pairings, mostly Zutara.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Everything Avatar-related belongs to Bryke. I've just had the privilege of working with what they created and we love so much.

On that note, I'd like to say that while I adore Zutara (and this fanfic will have plenty of it along the way), I have a few very different perceptions of it than most fanfic writers I've seen. I'll break it down as simply as I can, so if you see something straight-away you completely disagree with, feel free to click away from this fic. Otherwise, I'd love to see you stick around and enjoy my rendering of this beautiful pair.

1) I think it's unfair to think Zuko should fall in love first.  
2) I don't think either of them loved each other during the canon series. Attracted to each other, possibly. Discovered their soulmate, no.  
3) I think real, true, lasting romance develops over time.  
4) I don't think people fall in love at twelve. Or fourteen.  
5) There is way more to the Avatar world than our ships.

In other words, expect this fanfic to have a sweeping plot that brings Zuko and Katara together over time, and it's set five years after the end of the canon series--which I'm keeping intact completely. I can only hope I still entertain you all. Please review if you read! I would love to hear from you all, love or hate it. And thus without further ado, I give you _Summer Air._

* * *

Summer Air

Prologue

* * *

_Sugar Queen,  
__I told the servant to address this note the right way or I'd bend him a nice, new hole in the ground to live in. There's some festival here at the capital on the day of the summer solstice. Snoozles and Suki are even coming to visit for it. You should too so I don't have to be stuck babysitting their brat while the lovebirds sneak off or something. And so we don't have to send Twinkletoes up there to make sure you're still alive.  
Toph_

Katara folded the note and set it aside with a sigh. The note she'd have to write in reply explaining why she wouldn't attend whatever festival would be tedious, but necessary.

As she reached for the pen in the inkpot nearby, the voice behind her stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Katara!"

In anticipation of the scolding already promised in those three syllables, she sheepishly withdrew her hand from the table altogether and turned around to meet Gran Gran's disapproving gaze. "Yes?"

"I know I didn't catch you just about to reject your friend's invitation, hm?"

Katara sighed. This argument would be even more tedious than any letter could ever be. "I don't have time--"

"Don't have time? You have all the time in the world and you're wasting it here! How long has it been since you saw your nephew?"

The young woman frowned. "You read my letter…" Of course, she didn't really expect anything else, and while it annoyed her, Gran Gran was also summarily forgiven. "It's been awhile," she finally admitted.

"Awhile? Try two years. Ever since you were there to help Suki with the birth, you've never gone back. In fact, you've never even left the North Pole!"

All she could do was sigh again. Her grandmother was right; she'd devoted all of her time and energy into nothing but training and teaching, in that order. Little else had been given any thought.

"Gran Gran, I--"

"Fine. If I can't convince you, maybe he can."

Katara immediately jumped to her feet. Someone was here? Already? Maybe Sokka had come… But that was unlikely, as she'd heard Suki was expecting again and he'd be hovering like a mother hen over his pregnant wife. Still, Toph could be convincing. That or--

But her speculation stopped when a familiar blue arrow popped into the door frame, followed by the Avatar himself.

"Aang?" she barely managed to ask, before he'd snatched her up in one of his still child-like hugs. Something about him would always be child-like, she realized all over again, though this time there wasn't nearly as much remorse as there had been the first time it had dawned upon her.

"Katara, you've been cooped up here with the Northern Water Tribe for ages! It's time to relax and restore your aura--"

Katara couldn't help but laugh as she drew away from the gangly seventeen-year-old airbender. It seemed Ty Lee had come to the Fire Nation capital for the summer solstice as well. "I've missed you. But my students here need me, and I haven't been to the Fire Nation in so long I'd just be a burden, plus I'd be worrying just as much over Suki's condition, and probably getting on Toph's nerves, and--"

"Are you mad at me?"

Katara stopped short in her list of more reasons she wouldn't be attending that festival at Aang's question, asked quietly and as solemnly as she'd ever seen him. "Of course not, Aang. Why would you think that?"

The boy shrugged. She'd also realized a long time ago she'd always think of him as something of a boy, no matter how tall he got. He was towering over her now--except Aang wasn't really one to tower.

"I just thought, maybe that's why you never came to visit. Because you were upset with me for…"

She quickly shook her head and sent him a reassuring smile. "Aang, don't be stupid. You're the Avatar. We both know you have a busy life to lead. It was only a matter of time before you had to be somewhere and help someone and, well, I wasn't ready to settle down back then anyway. Besides, I think we're both happier now that we can just be friends, right?"

For a few moments he didn't seem completely convinced, but then he broke into his usual grin. "Right. And that's why you should come to the capital, Katara. To see _all_ your friends. It's been too long, and soon enough we'll all be too old to go on adventures anymore."

"You think this festival is going to be an adventure?" That caused her to laugh just a little.

He took the mirth to be a very good sign. "Sure is. Well, maybe. Okay, maybe not an adventure, but it'll be fun and I meant what I said. Even a Master Waterbender needs to take a break sometimes!"

When he adopted those puppy-dog eyes of his, she knew she was done for. "Well, I'd have to prepare, and--"

"Oh, I already took care of that for you!" piped up her grandmother, who had been listening at the door the entire time and now peeked inside with a mischievous smile dancing across her lips. "And your trunks are already loaded up on the bison, too."

Katara felt that same stirring of annoyance at everything being so neatly planned without her input, but was able to temper it with the knowledge that they all wanted her to enjoy herself for once. Even she could admit it had been awhile since she'd taken any time for herself. "Fine. I guess I can go. But only for a few days."

"A week," Aang corrected.

"Two weeks," Gran Gran threw in for good measure.

The young woman growled, but there was still something musing in the sound. "Whatever. I'm going for this festival and when I've had a chance to catch up with everyone, I'll be heading back here."

At least both of them knew better than to argue. They'd already won this battle; she knew they were silently congratulating themselves. For now she was happy to leave them in their smug victory. She was already preoccupied thinking about what her grandmother must have thrown into those trunks and if she even dared to peek inside before they set off.

In the end, she had taken thorough stock of what had been packed for her and found it - surprisingly - to her satisfaction. It didn't seem as if she'd be tortured, which was a small blessing. She could forgive them their plotting against her as a result.

Gran Gran and Pakku both were there to see her off, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek from each. When the latter was about to tell her to 'take it easy,' a swift elbow in the ribs from Kanna set him straight. Thankfully, Katara's thoughts were already elsewhere and she didn't notice.

It had been five years since the war had ended, five years since she'd stepped foot in Fire Country, much less the capital city. First there had been the journey home with her father and the warriors, the tearful but joyous reunions, the renewal of a relationship between her grandmother and her bending teacher, Sokka and Suki's betrothal and wedding plans. She'd been on Kyoshi Island for most of that, meeting Suki's family and slowly growing aware that she wanted more for her life than just marriage and kids and settling down in a nice village. Thus she shipped off to the North Pole, resuming her training and even taking it upon herself to teach some of the young female waterbenders more of their craft. It was rewarding, she told herself. It was her calling.

But somewhere along the way she'd fallen out of touch with everyone she'd cared so dearly about.

Perhaps it started with Aang. He'd been so sweet and devoted at first, eager to experience life. But soon enough people had needed the Avatar's help and he was gone more and more until Katara realized that they were friends, not lovers. She cared about him, yes, but her happiness didn't depend on him. For some reason she always figured the man she loved would be someone she needed in her life in order to be happy.

And then it was Toph, now an ambassador in the Fire Nation for the Earth Kingdom. Her letters got fewer, Katara's replies grew even scarcer, and sooner than she knew she hadn't seen or heard from the blossoming young woman in over a year.

Finally, it was her brother and his wife. Katara had been there for the birth of their firstborn, a boy they'd named Satoru. Things had gone so smoothly, however, and the new mother was so strong and stubborn she was out of bed and tending after her family again in no time. Katara eventually felt out of place and feared overstaying her welcome. She left for the North Pole and never looked back.

_Five years,_ she reflected as they soared so effortlessly through the sky on Appa's back. It was a small thing she didn't even know she'd missed until she had the opportunity to do it again. _I wonder how much everyone has changed._

Aang was more than happy to answer her unspoken question as he chattered on, excited at the prospect of having all his friends together in one place. His estimation of Sokka was that he'd gotten "a little wider" but that Suki still kicked his butt enough to keep him in shape. Satoru "will be a bender" Aang said with great certainty, but when Katara pressed him about whether she'd be able to train her little nephew one day, he wouldn't say anymore. Toph "looks like a girl sometimes," he'd told her instead, with an appropriate blush to add to it. And Zuko? "He takes being Fire Lord too seriously," the airbender had told her a bit sadly. The way he looked at her as he said it gave her the distinct impression he thought they were two peas to a pod, both working themselves so hard they were in desperate need of a vacation.

Yet when she asked him about herself, about whether she'd changed since he'd seen her last, he looked at her blankly. "You're still Katara," he said simply, and that was the end of it.

While she didn't press him for more of an explanation, she wasn't completely happy with that answer. Was she still just the same as she'd ever been? Maybe so. It might actually be for the best, because then it wouldn't be incredibly awkward when she saw them all again--or so she could hope.

In the meantime, it was just like old times with Appa gliding through the air beneath her and Aang's excited voice telling her all about his latest escapades. She could believe this whole vacation thing just might work.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N**: I don't have a beta reader for this so if there are any errors, I apologize! Please let me know right away if you find any so I can fix them. Also, I can't stress enough how much I thrive on reviews! They're what keep me motivated, really. So if you want to see more of this, if you love it, if you hate it, if you have anything to say at all, please don't hesitate to let me know. That said, enjoy! :)

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Summer Air

Chapter One

* * *

"Suki! _Suki_!"

"Let the woman sleep for once! Everyone knows you do enough for two people, Snoozles, and she really _is_ two people."

"Hey, don't call my wife two people!"

Toph merely folded her arms. "Whatever. She's sleeping. Now what are you hollering about?"

"I can't find my boomerang. I wanted to show Katara. I carved it and—"

"Well, here, let me help you look," Toph said, with a sweet smile.

Sokka finally stopped running around frantically. "Oh, thanks, that would be— Hey! I mean it, Toph, if I lost that thing already—"

"Big old thing made of wood, right? With all kinds of weird squiggles and niches in it? I gave it to your kid to play with."

"_What_?!"

"He threw it at my _head_! So I told him he could keep playing with it if he took it out of my house. I've got some nice stuff in here, if you haven't noticed."

"_You sent him outside_?" Sokka's voice was almost breaking by this point.

"What's wrong with going outside? Are you going to say he can't get fresh air now? Wow, Snoozles, I didn't think you were that much of a stick in the mud."

"No, that's not what I meant— Ugh, you're just as bad as ever. We're in the _Fire Nation_ if _you _haven't noticed and who knows what kind of people might be out there just waiting to kidnap some innocent kid!"

Toph merely wore a smirk. "The only people in my courtyard are my servants. But don't worry, I'll be sure to tell the cook that you'd prefer not to eat food prepared by a potential kidnapper from now on."

Sokka blanched. "Now I didn't mean that either! You're impossible! I'm telling Suki when she wakes up. And I expect you to buy me a brand new boomerang if anything happened to my old one!"

"Don't worry, nothing happened to it."

Both Sokka and Toph completely clammed up at that, the shadow in the doorway soon dragging a muddy but otherwise untouched Satoru behind her with the boomerang still clutched in one of his chubby hands. It only took a moment before the shock wore off and Sokka was on the move, snatching up his sister in a bear hug.

"Katara!" Even while he still had a deathgrip around his little sister he was hollering again, "Suki, Suki, wake up, she's here!" That was, until Toph kicked him in the shin.

With a grimace, Katara unwound her arm from her brother and drew Satoru closer by the little hand she was still holding. "So I found this little guy about ready to knock out some of your ostrich horses, Toph," she offered, trying to take some of the attention off of her. She'd never felt entirely comfortable when all eyes were on her –including Toph's blind ones.

Satoru simply hung his head.

"Agh, your mom is going to kill me when she hears about this!" Sokka seemed torn between burying his face in his hands and wrenching the boomerang from his son's grasp. Needless to say, after two years he was still perfecting the art of parenting.

"When I hear about what?" came Suki's sleepy voice, the young warrior and mother-to-be coming around the corner with her hands already massaging the arch of her back, highlighting her slightly burgeoning belly.

That was all Sokka needed to make a decision, snatching the boomerang from his son's hands and hiding it behind his own back. "Ah, nothing, honey. Look, Katara's here!" He even ruffled his son's hair for good measure, although with the way the boy ducked away from the attention there was more than likely a warning in the affection that he better not play with a boomerang again soon.

"Katara, it's so good to see you," Suki said, making her way over to give Katara as much of a hug as she could manage. "You look beautiful. Doesn't she, Sokka?"

Sokka had a look on his face that said nothing more than 'ew, that's my sister.'

"Thank you, Suki. You look lovely, too. How's your pregnancy been so far? Hopefully it's gone as smoothly as the last time."

Toph was the one who finally voiced her distaste. "What's with all the women talk right away? Besides, you're only just in time to get ready for the dinner tonight. I'm guessing you'll want to clean up, right? Unless you've changed your mind over the years about how a nice layer of dirt never hurt anybody."

"Dinner?" It was a unanimous question.

"Oh, didn't I say anything about it before? Yeah, we've been invited to some state dinner at the palace. No big deal."

"_Toph_!!" Again unanimous.

"Wow, Appa's hungry. He kind of ate all the fruit off that tree in your courtyard, Toph," Aang sheepishly announced as he waltzed in, quickly taking stock of the shocked and angered expressions around the room. "What'd I miss?"

It was just like old times as all hell broke loose.

* * *

There were some advantages to being a noble in not one but two kingdoms, Katara soon realized. Toph's closet was brimming with all the latest fashions – that she doubted the girl ever wore – and a tailor was perpetually at her beck and call. Thus, when Katara adamantly insisted on wearing something blue instead of the traditional, formal red worn by Fire Nation guests of honor, the thought of more money filling her pockets had the young seamstress all the more eager to create something extraordinary under otherwise impossible circumstances.

"Sure you don't want to, you know, blend in and stuff, Sweetness?" Toph asked, while stretching out on her bed and wrinkling the sage green silk of her own gown hideously. It had already been a shock to find the ambassador did in fact dress the part of her gender these days, not to mention, she was even taller than Katara.

"It's not like I'm looking for a _disguise_, Toph. The last time I was in the Fire Nation I had to wear red. This time I don't. Besides, you're wearing green."

"I'm blind. I won't notice all the people staring at me."

Katara dutifully lifted up an arm so the sleeve could get a few snips from the young woman still bustling about with her scissors and needle and thread. "Suki's wearing green."

"Everyone will be staring at her belly, not her clothes."

"These are educated people, Toph. It's not like they've never seen a pregnant woman or the color blue before."

Toph merely shrugged. "Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Hours later as they climbed the steps of the palace, Katara only wished she'd heeded the warning. While the nobles that passed them didn't stop and stare, they did take a good long look before turning to whisper amongst themselves. The only small consolation she had was that Aang and Toph had been there enough times to know where they were going, so they didn't look a bunch of ragtag misfits who also had no idea which direction the dinner hall was in. However, that quickly became a large consolation when she realized what a maze the palace was. For a brief moment, she had a pang of sympathy for everyone who had to work inside its walls.

"Do you think they'll have those Flaming Fire Flakes again this time?" Katara imagined she could almost hear Sokka drooling as he asked it.

"_Again_? You've been to dinner at the palace before?" she immediately asked, only to receive a sheepish nod from her brother and a slight smile from her sister-in-law. "Is that why I'm the only one feeling completely out of place here?"

"Well, Katara, you have spent a lot of time up north…" Aang, as always, was trying to diffuse the situation. Unfortunately, it simply turned her attention his direction, to see that he was even wearing Fire Nation garb.

"What, you're wearing red? Since when do you wear red?" Even after five years her temper could sometimes run away with her, though she did bite her tongue after that snippy second comment was spoken.

"Uh… Er…"

"Give it a rest, unless you want me to start calling you Fussy Britches again, Sweetness."

"Come on, Katara, it won't be too bad." Sokka wound an arm around her shoulders. "Just tell them you've been in hibernation or something. They might think it's some Water Tribe thing."

With a slight growl she shrugged him off, but as Toph instinctively led them to their seats, she was already feeling better. It was a state dinner. That meant plenty of guests, plenty of business to be conducted, and they were just a handful in a veritable sea of faces. They even had the luxury of sitting near the end of the table, away from the ornate chair she could only assume was Zuko's at its head. She certainly didn't envy him the attention, but he was used to it. She doubted they'd even get a chance to talk to him before the night was over.

For some reason, she felt relieved about that. It was a funny feeling, and she quickly dismissed it. If she was glad not to see Zuko it was simply because she had no idea how to act around the Fire Lord himself, especially in front of all the already curious gazes their way.

Eventually everyone had taken their seats at the long table, the guest list numbering at least two hundred by Katara's rough estimate. How anyone could keep track of anyone in such a crowd was a mystery to her. As if she wasn't uncomfortable already, the stiff formality of the whole affair had her even more on edge. There was an appropriate time to bow when Zuko stood from his seat, a way to nod, a way to hold the spoon to eat the soup, everything. She found herself silently cursing Gran Gran for getting her into the situation in the first place.

"Uh, Sis, if you're not going to eat that…" Her brother was already eyeing her plate from her left.

All Sokka got in reply was a glare. She scooped a huge forkful of whatever it was in front of her and shoveled it straight into her mouth—only to find it set her tongue on _fire_! "Ahhh!" she began to exclaim before she smacked a hand across her lips to keep herself silent.

"I think Sweetness got a mouthful of something other than sugar for once," Toph snickered from across the table.

It was all she could do not to fan her open mouth with one hand. "Water," she croaked, only to have a glass pushed her way courtesy of Aang. It wasn't water but as she gulped it down it had the desired effect, soothing her throat. "Why didn't any of you warn me?"

"It's not like this is your first time to the Fire Nation, remember?" Sokka received another glare.

"Sorry, Katara. It's really not so bad. Just, uh, take smaller bites from now on," Aang tried to offer sagely.

"I can't believe you do this all the time, Toph." Katara definitely had a new appreciation for the bravery of her young friend.

"You think this is bad? Just wait."

"Wait? Wait for what? What's going to happen now?"

But suddenly everyone was too hungry to talk anymore and they all avoided her gaze—except for Toph, who wore a smirk. It wasn't very long until she found out exactly what she was waiting for; dinner was hardly the bulk of the evening. No sooner had the dishes been cleared away than the buzz of conversation began. They were expected to socialize.

Out of the corner of her eye, Katara noticed Suki's hand on her brother's arm. As if on cue, Sokka cleared his throat for a quick, "Suki and I are headed back so she can get some rest."

All of her friends were rising from their seats and she followed suit, forcing herself not to lash out despite feeling suddenly abandoned by the only other ally she truly had: her brother. "I'll go with you," she said instead, alight with hope that the plan might work. "I mean, I can put Suki more at ease—"

The look on Sokka's face and the blush Suki wore stopped her short, however. _Oh._ Right. They weren't just going home to get some rest. Katara was soon wearing a blush to match.

"Nice try, Sugar Queen. Looks like you're stuck making nice with the locals. I'm sure they'd love to hear about the North Pole. I've got some stuff to do anyway."

"What? You're leaving, too?" Her last hope was Aang, who was already looking sufficiently apologetic. "Aang, don't tell me you have 'stuff to do' too."

"Well, I kind of promised Zuko I'd talk to one of the visiting dignitaries…"

"Sure, fine. All of you go. I can handle myself. I'm a grown woman now. I'll do fine. I'll see you back at the house later." If she didn't end up bending apart the whole palace in her frustration, that was.

Before they could protest she was already weaving her way through the crowd, belatedly regretting her choice of attire again. The blue of her gown caused heads to turn and while she wasn't entirely sure the attention was negative, attention at all wasn't what she was looking for. She wanted an escape. The maze of the palace had to have a map or something, right?

"Lady Katara, you're not leaving without even saying hello to an old friend, are you?"

Katara froze, but couldn't help the grin that suddenly stole across her mouth. "Iroh," she greeted as she turned to face him, extending her arms to give him the hug he deserved. "I thought you would be in Ba Sing Se serving that delicious tea of yours."

"And miss the solstice? The shop can run itself. And to be honest, I've heard it is my nephew who needs the holiday, and if I was not here to see that he takes one, who would?" The old man chuckled as he stepped back. Katara noticed that despite the addition of a few wrinkles here and there, Iroh seemed the same as ever. "You look so beautiful. I am glad to see you in blue."

She blushed. "I look completely out of place." Still, it was nice to get the compliment. Even she could recognize blue was a good color for her.

"Not out of place. Unique. You've grown over the years."

Now she could only blush again. Was Zuko's _uncle_ trying to say she'd matured physically? Awkward.

"Thank you. I… Well, you look the same, actually."

He laughed at that and cast a glance behind him, probably on the lookout for any of her friends. Toph was wearing a smug smile as she spoke to some nobleman and his wife, while Aang was surrounded by a bunch of curious visitors who wore Earth Kingdom colors, and Sokka and Suki had already made their escape. "I see your friends have left you to the mercies of the court. Quite unfair of them." But before she could launch into just how unfair she truly thought it was, he was gently grasping her elbow to give her a nudge toward one of the scarlet drapes nearby."Through there I believe you'll find a lovely view of the courtyard from one of the balconies. Perhaps if you wish to avoid the crowd, you could enjoy the fresh air until I might have the privilege of escorting you back to Lady Bei Fong's residence?"

It was a lifeline. "Oh, thank you." She had to keep herself from running to the balcony and never looking back. "But I couldn't expect you to—"

"Nonsense. I would enjoy visiting your friends again over a nice cup of tea."

And that was the end of it, for he was already turning to play the cultured royal gentleman that he was to a nobleman who was currying for his attention, and he gave Katara a not-so-subtle hint with the nod of his head toward the balcony. It was something, at least, even if it meant she'd have to wait. She could do that as long as all the eyes weren't on her anymore.

Iroh was right. The view was lovely. She couldn't remember if she'd ever seen the courtyard before, but considering her haste to be out of the Fire Nation for good once the war was over, she doubted it. It was breathtaking at that hour, bathed in the last remnants of the sunset and with the evening fog already beginning to creep across the pond. It seemed as out of place in the middle of the palace as her blue gown did, but just as the old man had so wisely said, what was unique could definitely be beautiful in its own way.

The crowd was dwindling behind the drapes. As the moon began to shine she heard fewer and fewer voices. It was just as well. The silvery light always empowered her, made her feel alive, made her feel as if she could do anything. Suddenly even the prospect of another state dinner didn't seem quite as bad.

Just as she was about to get lost in her thoughts, footsteps sounded on the stone behind her. "I was beginning to think—" But as she turned and took a step, she finally came face-to-face with the last person she expected to see: the Fire Lord himself.

Zuko.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the reviews! I appreciate each and every one! :) I'm also trying to reply back to most of them and answer as many questions as I can (without giving away too much of what's to happen). For fear of giving away what a crazy shipper I am I must say, Iroh totally ships Zutara. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It didn't quite come out as I originally planned... but hopefully that turns out to be a good thing.

p.s. I'm sorry it's moving so slowly! Dx As my friends can attest, I always freak about that, whether it's going too fast, too slow, blah blah. If you have an opinion, let me know! But I promise, the real bulk of the plot will be introduced soon, and then it'll barrel out of control, and hopefully be lots of Zutara epicness. Bear with me until then!

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* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Two

_

* * *

_

_He's gotten taller._

It was the first thing that flashed through her mind as she stared up at him, although she promptly told herself it was a silly thing to think. He'd always been taller, even when they were kids. Just like with Toph's half an inch to best her, however, she was suddenly feeling like the four inches she'd put on in five years was the bare minimum. Zuko had to be pushing six feet.

_His hair is longer_.

He was still cleanshaven, but his black hair just grazed his shoulders. But it was the five-pronged royal headpiece that held his topknot in place that told the true story of how much had changed.

Yet here she was noticing all these things and belatedly realizing she should be bowing, or showing some sort of respect to her host for the evening. With a blush, she finally blurted out, "Should I bow?"

Suddenly that stone façade cracked for a slight hint of a smile. "I think we're safe from stuffy formalities out here."

She was able to don a smile at that, turning back to face the courtyard, resting her hands on the balcony rail. "It must get tedious at times. I don't envy you in the slightest."

"I was raised for this. It's second nature now."

Katara wasn't really sure what to say to that. For some reason, she always felt like she was treading on thin ice when talking about his past. It was usually better to change the subject. "So is your uncle the one who sent you out here?"

"I asked him if he knew where you went. I saw you in the crowd and was hoping to say hello," Zuko said, stepping up beside her and resting one of his own palms on the smooth stone of the railing.

"I should have known better than to wear blue," she lamented with a sigh, though there was still a smile on her lips. "Toph did try to warn me, but you know me. Stubborn as ever."

"Toph's blind. She can't see how stunning you look in blue."

Katara felt that same blush creeping across her cheeks, especially when she noticed his golden gaze was trained on her as he offered the compliment. "Thanks." But considering she didn't want to seem just another silly girl swooning over the Fire Lord, she quickly added, "You look…"

However, as she looked at him again, she realized much more than just his height or his hair. His scar looked harsher than she remembered it, even in the pale moonlight. And he seemed…

With a slightly wistful smile she finally concluded, "You look tired, Zuko."

If he was disappointed about not receiving a compliment in return, he didn't show it. The only shift in his expression was a slight tug of a smirk at one corner of his mouth. "I'm the Fire Lord. If that isn't a tiring job, I don't know what is."

"Your uncle said—"

His fist briefly clenched at his side before he cast his gaze at the pond she'd been recently admiring. "I thought of everyone you might understand."

"Right, because we've _always_ understood each other," she remarked sarcastically, before the truth behind the words dawned on her and she bit her lip. "Actually, don't respond to that."

"Exactly, Katara. Even when you hated me, when you didn't trust me, it's all because you understood me first. I've heard about your time at the North Pole…"

"That's not the same thing," she replied indignantly, looking at him while he continued to look away. "It's not like I had my friends right there with me trying to get me to take a break now and then."

"No, you just pushed them all away until there was no one left to tell you that you needed some time for yourself. I'm running a kingdom, after all. I think I'm entitled to some hard work."

His point stung. He was right, of course. But then again, so was she. She clenched her jaw against saying more and adding any fuel to what was already an argument in the making.

Taking a page from his book, she turned to face the pond again, elbows on the railing and chin resting on her hands. It was peaceful, the scenery. Whether it was the moon or the gentle ripple on the water, it was definitely enough to calm her temper.

"Maybe that's why we're both here. Now. The solstice is supposed to be some big deal, right? I'm here to enjoy myself. Can you do the same? Then it can be back to business as usual." _For both of us,_ she added silently.

Without even looking at him she could hear the slight smile in his voice. "I think I can do that, yeah."

"Good. Then I don't have to tell the others how you and your uncle set me up for this lecture."

Zuko threw up his hands in innocence. "Hey, I just wanted to say hello, like I said." But when he saw the grin on her face he relaxed and even adopted his own tamer version. "It's been awhile, but I still think of all of you guys. I get to see Toph and Aang, and even Sokka and Suki come to visit at Toph's insistence, but you haven't been around since… Well, I can't even remember. My coronation, I guess."

"It's not like I've been avoiding you, Zuko. Although you know I've always felt out of place in the Fire Nation…"

"I know. That's why I've told Toph not to push you."

"You have?" That was news to her. It shed a bit of light on some things.

"I even suggested she go visit you at the North Pole once. But she said ice and her don't mix."

Katara laughed at that. "I don't think ice really mixes with anyone, but I don't blame her. Anyway, uh, thank you for that, too."

He shook his head slightly, wearing a wry smile. "Don't thank me. I really only cautioned her against it because I figured pushing you would only push you away. Really it wasn't all that nice of me."

It wasn't, but she understood. In retrospect, she could see that they always did have some level of understanding between them. Thankfully five years had given her the maturity to fully forgive him – and all of them – all their transgressions.

After a moment of silence that was edging toward awkward she tossed out a casual, "So, how's Mai?"

"Uh…" He idly tugged at his collar. "She's well, from what I've heard. I haven't seen her much for the past year or so."

"Oh," she said simply, before the reality hit her. "_Oh._ Oh, I'm sorry, Zuko."

"That's the way things go." He was shrugging it off, casting a surreptitious glance her way before venturing, "I heard about you and Aang, too."

"That was years ago. And I know it's terrible of me, but I never really had a hard time accepting that it was over. We were so young, we had our own lives. I just like him better as a friend. I'm pretty sure he feels the same way."

"Now that's something to be envious of." And without saying more, she could tell he was still in pain over whatever transpired between him and Mai.

It wasn't her place to press, but she did feel compelled to rest a hand comfortingly on his. He was surprisingly warm, despite that a cool breeze was picking up and stirring the curtains behind them. It was a firebender thing, she'd always imagined.

"Ah, so you did find her."

Katara immediately snatched her hand away as Iroh approached, though she mentally kicked herself for the hasty action. It wasn't as though there was anything wrong with comforting a friend. By the way Iroh was smiling it seemed he had seen enough before she'd managed to move anyway.

"Nephew, the last of your guests are taking their leave. Perhaps you should wish them a good evening before you accompany Lady Katara and myself to Lady Bei Fong's house."

She fully expected Zuko to protest being dragged back to Toph's, but again he surprised her. All he offered was a slight smile and a soft, "Excuse me while I tend my duties. I'll meet both of you on the steps," before he disappeared through the curtains and she could hear his voice making farewells. It was one of the things that hadn't changed about him, she realized as an afterthought. Marginally deeper but otherwise still Zuko as she'd knew him. Oddly enough, somehow that was a comforting thought.

"I must apologize. I hope you don't believe I intended to ambush you, Lady Katara. My nephew simply asked if I knew if you'd already left and I couldn't bring myself to lie," Iroh was saying to draw her from her thoughts, gallantly offering an arm to escort her back through the drapes.

"How honorable of you," she couldn't help but jest, allowing him to guide her through the maze of the palace. "But really, it's nice seeing Zuko again. It's nice seeing everyone again. I'm sorry I haven't come to visit your shop or anything…"

"Ah, don't worry about it for now. Although when the solstice has passed, perhaps I'll be able to convince you to sojourn in Ba Sing Se before you head back north?"

There was a certain amiable charm that Iroh possessed that made it impossible to say no. It was strange that every one of his family members she'd met completely lacked the quality. "Perhaps," was all she said.

But the old man wasn't about to be deterred. As he led her back through the corridors toward the main entrance he regaled her with stories of his tea business, anecdotes about some of his most cantankerous customers – though Katara was willing to bet Iroh could give them all a run if he wanted to – and even a few tips about his beloved game of Pai Sho. She had to confess she'd never actually played, and it was in the middle of Iroh's feigned incredulity that Zuko joined them on the steps.

"Just what exactly can't you believe, Uncle?"

Katara's laughter over Iroh's purposeful dramatics came to something of a halt, stifled by her hand over her mouth as she looked over to the Fire Lord. He wasn't dressed according to his position anymore, having changed into much more simple clothing—probably so he wouldn't be mobbed once he left the palace grounds. Unfortunately, it just left her feeling still sorely out of place in her finery.

"Lady Katara has never played Pai Sho. It's a travesty!"

"Well, I'm sure we can remedy that."

She raised a brow and looked at Zuko, who was now – at his uncle's insistence – offering her his arm in Iroh's stead. "I didn't know you played."After only a moment's hesitation, she took his arm and they all continued on their way. Truth be told she hated needing an escort at all, but didn't overly fancy getting lost in the Fire Nation capital after nightfall either.

"As if my uncle would ever have considered my education complete without teaching me," Zuko chuckled. The sound was echoed by his uncle. "I take it the game's not as popular among the Water Tribes as it is elsewhere?"

"Not really. But we do have penguin-sledding." Even saying it sounded incredibly juvenile, but she couldn't take it back.

"Ah, when I was a young man I did my fair share of penguin-sledding. Was always a wonderful way to get in a Water Tribe woman's good graces," Iroh commented with his typical complacent smile.

"Aang used to talk about that. He always said he wanted to do it again someday." Zuko sent her a sidelong glance as he added, "Didn't you take him after you found him in the iceberg?"

Considering Iroh's comment, she was blushing again, merely hoping the moonlight would mask the expression. "Yes, well, he'd been frozen for a hundred years. I figured he deserved to have some fun before he had to run off and save the world."

"Ahhh," Iroh said, and it was enough for both of young people to fall silent. They knew he was making a silent statement about how they'd fallen out of touch with 'having fun' in the last years.

Thankfully they were arriving at Toph's house in no time, lights still on the loud clatter of breaking pottery sounding through one of the open windows. "Sokka, if your son isn't allowed to play with your boomerang indoors neither are you," they heard Suki's stern voice saying.

"I just wanted to—"

"We've got company," Toph announced matter-of-factly, and before they could speculate further the door was swinging open to reveal the chaotic scene otherwise known as the parlor.

"Katara! What were you thinking taking off—" Sokka was already rearing up to chastise her, she could tell. But he stopped short at the sight of Zuko and Iroh standing on either side of her. She'd been wise enough to remove her hand from Zuko's arm before it could cause even more of a scene. "Uh, I mean, I'm sure you handled yourself well and the Fire Lord would always make sure to take good care of his guests…"

"Oh, Sokka, just cut it out," she said, taking a step inside so the men could follow her and the servant holding the door open could shut it again behind them. "I hope you don't mind, but I kind of brought company, Toph."

"I don't mind," the young woman said nonchalantly, not even getting up from where she was lying across the couch with her feet up. "Hey, Zuko. Hey, old man. Bring me something good from back home this time?"

"How about I brew everyone my newest tea blend?" Iroh suggested as he glanced around the room and graciously looked past the mess. "I brought some with me in case Zuko's attendants still hadn't learned to make anything truly worth drinking." A small pouch emerged from his sleeve, and the grin on the man's face was priceless.

The tea was exactly what everyone needed to relax. Conversation flowed so freely that Katara could imagine five years hadn't even passed since they'd sat in a circle and visited as they did now. There were a few exceptions, of course; Satoru was bounced on Suki's knee until he fell asleep against her shoulder, Toph was still wearing a dress, and there was no longer that burden of responsibility making the air heavy. Things were at peace, not only in that one house for the evening, but in the whole world. It was a good feeling.

But all good things come to an end, and before she even knew it, Suki was masking a yawn and slipping off to put her son to bed, Sokka following after her. Iroh and Zuko were taking their leave lest they overstay their welcome, and even Toph was complaining about a lack of beauty sleep and some meeting she had to attend early the next morning—because "those firebenders rise with the sun like complete loons." At long last Katara was seated across from Aang, who was staring her way but past her with an almost blank look in his eyes.

"Something on your mind?" she finally ventured, stifling a yawn of her own and knowing she'd be calling it a night sooner rather than later.

For a long moment he was silent, his eyes focusing on her before they fell away. "I guess I thought if I brought you here for the festival, it could be just like old times."

She couldn't help but smile. Even after all these years he still possessed a childlike innocence she found endearing. "It is just like old times. Thank you for convincing me to come."

He didn't share her smile. "But it's not, Katara. It's not like old times at all."

"What do you mean? I know some things are different, sure, but for the most part…" She paused, abruptly glancing his way. "Are you talking about us?"

"No. Well, not just us. I don't want to get back together or try and make it work now or something. We're just as busy as we ever were, and… well… er…" He trailed off as he blushed.

Now this was strange. "What?" But as soon as she'd asked, it dawned on her and her eyes widened. "Aang, have you found someone? I'm so glad for you if you have!" In fact, she was already across the room to give him a hug.

"Sort of," he said sheepishly, though he returned her hug before shaking his head again. "But that's not what I mean either. We're just… I don't know. There's no comet coming, but we're all different now, and we'll never be the same as we were before it all ended."

She frowned. "We're happier now, though."

"Are you, Katara? Are you really happier now, with the life you've made for yourself, than you were when we were all together as a family?"

She didn't answer. He already knew what she'd say and it would only prove his point.

"That's what I'm talking about. It's not like old times at all. And… And I wish I could fix it! But I can't. Instead I just see everyone pretending that things haven't changed, and this whole festival isn't just the first and last time we'll probably ever be together again like this."

"Don't say that, Aang…"

"Why not? It's true, isn't it? You're going to run back to the North Pole after this and we'll never see you again!"

She frowned again. "Is that what this is about? Don't let what I'm going to do affect your chance to enjoy the festival. Please. Besides, I haven't even decided what I'm going to do yet. Iroh invited me back to Ba Sing Se, actually. I don't know, maybe I'll take him up on the offer."

The airbender perked up a bit at that prospect. She was glad to see that at least his penchant for optimism hadn't diminished over the years. "You should. Or at least don't go secluding yourself up north again. I know Toph misses you, even if she won't come out and say it."

"And this is all about Toph, as we all know," she remarked dryly.

"We _all _miss you, Katara. I'm happy you came. You just need to make sure you enjoy it, too. Not just for our sakes."

At that she smiled, instinctively giving him another hug. "Thanks, Aang. At least one thing hasn't changed. You all still care about me, even if I've been keeping to myself."

"That'll never change."

But as they said goodnight, Katara couldn't help but wonder. They all had their own lives now, it was true. Where did she fit in? She'd never really taken the time to figure that out, instead fleeing back to her comfort zone with her own people and enough to keep her too busy to think about how lonely the life she'd chosen might be.

This vacation was a start, but it was just a vacation. She'd enjoy herself but she wasn't about to get carried away. They'd just have to forgive her for that.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I promised the plot would pick up, and this is only the beginning! Thank you so much to those of you who have been sticking around so faithfully. You're what make writing this that much more worth it. Really, every review I get is just confirmation that this is even worth working on. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Three

* * *

The next evening Katara still wasn't sure how she'd gotten roped into hunting for fire lilies on Toph's behalf. For once she'd had the luxury of sleeping in, only vaguely remembering a blurred second somewhere in that slumber when Toph had poked her head in, asked a question, and received affirmative answer to it. Katara hadn't even known what she'd been agreeing to at the time, and how her name ever came up in the first place was still a mystery. Unfortunately, asking Toph for enlightenment left a lot to be desired.

"Well, Suki obviously couldn't do it, so that left you."

"Why did _I_ have to come? You could have asked Aang. He'd have loved this. He said he wants adventure 'just like old times' even."

Toph merely barked a laugh. "I thought you knew this was part of the fertility ritual, Sweetness."

Alright, not only did it leave a lot to be desired but it made the whole thing even more uncomfortable and awkward for the poor, clueless waterbender.

It was nearing midnight and Toph had led them to the very edge of the crater, only to decide she deserved a rest since she hadn't walked that far in years. She even added a cough Katara assumed was to prove the exertion. But the waterbender was getting impatient. Not only had she been hoodwinked into this – she truly believed – but now Toph was dilly-dallying instead of getting the job done.

"You just sit here then and I'll go find you a fire lily," she nearly growled in her frustration.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch." Cough. "We're technically not supposed to get them until after midnight anyway. New day, and all that. Has to be on the solstice in order for it to work."

"How do you even know they grow out here, anyway? We could have hours of hunting ahead of us."

"Geez. Fussy Britches it is. It's not like you have anything better to do and couldn't use the extra help, if you know what I mean." Before she had to dodge a whip of water her direction, the younger woman added, "But don't worry, I asked Zuko."

"Zuko. Right. Why is it that _he_ gets the privilege of being called by his name?" At this point she was sour about everything, including the whole day so far. No sooner had she woken up than she was given babysitting duty and, thanks to her brother's indulgence, Satoru was hardly the best-behaved child on the planet.

"He's my boss. And he's got enough on his plate without having to explain why his ambassador calls him Sparky."

That surprised her. "Wow, so you actually do have a heart, Toph."

"Just don't tell anyone," came with a smirk and another cough. "Especially him."

"Who?" But before she could wonder for very long her worst suspicions were confirmed.

"Hello, ladies."

Zuko. Again.

Katara suddenly felt very set up. "Fancy meeting you here," she said with honeyed sarcasm.

"Toph didn't tell you—"

"No!" she snapped, though she quickly regretted it and clapped a hand across her eyes to try and mask her blush of shame. "No one tells me anything anymore. I didn't know this was some fertility ritual, I didn't know you'd be here…" She gradually peeked between her fingers to catch sight of his bewildered expression and sighed. "I'm sorry; it's not your fault." Her gaze turned daggers at Toph instead.

"Miss Fussy Britches is just cranky today," Toph offered, stifling another cough and stretching where she was still sitting.

"Be careful or I might consider bending you into an ice sculpture while you're sleeping," she seethed.

"Whatever. It's past midnight now so you can go ahead and pick me a fire lily. I'll wait here. Zuko knows the rest of the way."

Katara must have looked like she was about to commit murder because Zuko's hand was on her shoulder before she could say another word, steering her away from the ornery earthbender who still wore her characteristic smirk. It wasn't until they had put several paces between them and Toph that he finally removed his hand and cleared his throat for an apology.

"It's not your fault, Zuko. Ugh. I'm sick of my friends thinking they know what's best for me and just _conniving_ like that to get me to go along with it. I wish they'd just be honest with me."

"I don't think that's how Toph works," he said with a weak chuckle, continuing on with her in tow in their 'hunt.' "For what it's worth, I didn't want to be here either."

"So why are you?" At least following his lead allowed her temper to simmer even more.

"One of the primary duties of a Fire Lord is to have an heir to establish the line of succession. My people expect me to take part in this ritual every year until I do."

"But this is all just a silly superstition."

He chuckled again. "As if the Water Tribes don't have their own silly superstitions?"

"Well, of course they do. But we don't think picking a flower somehow promises you'll have children that year."

"Or that you'll find the love of your life? Eligible young men and women are encouraged to take part as well, you know."

_No, I don't know_, was her initial thought but she bit it back for a slight smile. "Either. Is the Fire Nation that obsessed with romance and children?"

"To a certain extent. I've been spending the last few years trying to undo what my father and his father before him did, but we're still a nation built on the concept of industrialization and expansion. But that's only part of it. After all, sending all the young men and women out after midnight hunting for fire lilies is just a means to encourage their own fertility rituals, so to speak. It's usually too early to find any of the flowers."

It took a moment for what that meant to dawn on her and when it did she was blushing and offering little more than a simple, "Ah." As they continued on, however, she found herself growing more and more paranoid, eventually adding, "Aren't you going to set tongues wagging being out here with me, then?"

He finally came to a halt near a grassy hill, sending her something of a bemused smile. "When Toph asked me where the best place to find fire lilies would be, I had a feeling something was up. I made sure to send her as far away from where the masses would be searching as possible, to avoid any gossip. People assuming I'm in bed with one of my ambassadors is a little more than I'd like to deal with right now."

"But you'd come out here with Mai?" As soon as it was out of her mouth she was kicking herself, blaming her curiosity for getting the best of her. Hastily, she tacked on an apologetic, "You don't have to answer that."

"No, I never hunted for fire lilies with Mai," was all he said, before he motioned over the knoll. "That field there will have a few of them, by the way. Pick as many as you like and then we can head back."

"You didn't want to—"

"No."

Considering she already felt as if she'd tread too far into his personal life she said nothing more, climbing the hill to find the field on the other side dotted by a few of the red blooms. It was vaguely reminiscent of the first time she'd seen the beautiful flowers, and she blinked away that bitter memory before plucking just two of the near dozen scattered across the meadow. One was for Toph and the other she tucked out of sight into the bosom of her tunic, feeling foolish for participating in such a 'silly superstition' but unable to help herself for some reason. It wouldn't do any harm, was her solid reasoning.

The walk back to where Toph was waiting was relatively silent. Zuko was nice enough to explain some of what she'd see the next day during the solstice celebrations, to ensure she wouldn't be completely ignorant or caught in more traps like the one already sprung on her. It was sweet of him, and she found herself wondering if he was always that considerate and she'd just never gotten to see the side of him before. Perhaps the years had a kind effect on everyone and she was only discovering it now.

"Took you guys long enough." Or maybe not.

"Here's your fire lily." Katara was happy to hand it over immediately. "Now let's go."

"Zuko, you coming back with us?"

"I'd better not. I wouldn't dream of sullying either of your reputations," he said smoothly, wearing a half-smile. His gaze met Katara's as he continued, "But I'll see you both tomorrow."

"For part of it, anyway. I'm going to make the whole group wander around like peasants most of the time. It's never as much fun cooped up in the royal seats."

"Well, I can't argue with that," he chuckled in reply. "Be careful on your way back. Oh, and if you want to avoid most of the…traffic of the evening, I'd suggest taking the main path straight through the housing district."

They finally reached the house an hour later and all that was left was to sneak quietly to their rooms and call it a night. Katara was surprised to find a newly-placed vase seated on her windowsill, obviously meant as a home for the lily she could have found that evening. Had one of the servants placed it there according to tradition? Whoever had seen fit seemed to know she'd give in to her curiosity as always, so she had her suspicions that it was someone who knew her a bit better than the waiting staff.

Gently retrieving the flower from its hiding spot she placed it in the water, watching as it instinctively seemed to lilt toward the moonlight pouring in through the shades. She didn't believe any of the superstitions of the tradition, but it was a beautiful bloom nonetheless.

When she finally fell asleep she dreamed of a field of fire lilies, a full moon, but instead of the hateful glare on Hama's deranged, wrinkled face, she saw the hateful glare of a red, angry scar, though the face that wore it was smiling.

* * *

Wandering around like peasants had indeed been much more fun than sitting still could ever have been. Toph had even provided them all "disguises," allowing them a better chance of blending into the crowds. It truly was just like old times, if even for just one day.

In fact, no one noticed when the hooded figure joined their group as they wound their way through the row of food vendors, until he reached out and tugged on Katara's elbow.

"Excuse me—" But as she looked up, she saw a finger pressed to Zuko's lips that were curved into a grin. "Hey!" Her voice dropped a few decibels, "Aren't you going to be mobbed out here?"

"Not as long as you all keep my secret," was his simple reply.

Of course he'd been welcomed by the rest, even given the responsibility of handing out advice on which foods to try, which shows to see, which illusions were simply that and which had a bit more something to them. When they saw the flame thrower spinning the dazzling array of different colors of fire around in a pinwheel, he was the one who informed them how much talent that truly took.

"Each color of fire is progressively harder to create," he explained, as they sat in Toph's courtyard, the earthbender sipping tea and claiming she needed some rest before she'd have to 'put on a show' for the fire nation nobles by sitting still during the dragon boat races.

"Azula had blue fire, I remember that," Sokka chimed in, rubbing his belly that was almost as large as Suki's after being stuffed full of every delicacy offered. Suki, meanwhile, had retired for an afternoon nap.

"There was a portrait of Ozai at the palace once upon a time and he had black flames at his hands," Aang solemnly added.

After just a brief moment of awkward silence, Zuko lifted a hand and snapped, producing a small orange flame. "Orange and yellow are the weakest. Any firebender can wield them. Red is a bit more concentrated." He snapped his fingers again and the tendril shifted colors. "Then purple." Another snap, another shift. He would continue through each and every color he named. "Blue. Green. And finally, white."

"Where does lightning come in?" Katara couldn't help herself.

Obligingly, he snapped his fingers again and this time the air sparked with electricity. "In some ways it's the hardest of all. It requires complete peace of mind and absence of emotion, or so they tell you when they're teaching. It's much easier said than done."

"I can't believe Azula had complete peace of mind over killing people," was from Aang with a frown.

"Don't worry, buddy, I'm sure it's way more complicated than that. Bending is tricky business. All that crazy magic and whatever else goes into it. You know." Sokka still suffered from foot-in-mouth disease, it seemed.

But before it could get any more awkward, Toph was declaring that they'd best get ready for the races, since they'd have to look less like peasants, Zuko included. That cleared the courtyard rather quickly, leaving Katara to feel a need to apologize for her brother's insensitivity and Aang's naïveté. In the end she opted just to change the subject.

"You've improved your bending so much, Zuko. You should be proud."

"In five years I'm sure everyone's improved." There was something lingering just unsaid beneath the surface of the tones, and he finally continued, "Or changed, at the very least. I used to be like Aang. I used to want to find some good in my sister. Now, I just think it's good riddance that she's gone."

"Is she still…?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since that day."

Katara frowned. "I don't blame you. I don't think any of us can. She tried to kill you. She tried to kill all of us. Repeatedly."

All he offered was a smirk, and after a few more moments of that tense silence he spoke again. "Today's the solstice. We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves, remember? Go get ready for the races. I'll see you there."

And before she could say another word he was gone.

When they saw each other again it was if the awkward moment never happened. They were all dressed to impress, seated in the pavilion that overlooked the river where the colorful boats – all crafted in varying sizes and shapes of dragons – were lined, preparing to race. It was a magnificent sight, to be sure, and Katara couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for poor Toph.

Toph just brushed it off. "Who knows, maybe I'll ride in one someday. I'm sure it beats just sitting here. Though when they start drumming that's always pretty neat."

Suki was using one of her fans to try and combat the heat, though Katara figured it was probably an impossible task. Even in the cool pale blue of her gown she was sweating. The Fire Nation had never been her favorite during the summer months.

"What do they win again?" Of course Sokka would care about the prize.

"Fortune," Aang supplied sagely.

"I think it has something to do with their crops," Toph added, with a slight cough.

"Are you okay, Toph? You've been coughing a lot lately—"

"Sugar Queen, don't ruin it by worrying over me for no reason."

"Something would be wrong if my sister wasn't worrying about _somebody_," Sokka pointed out. He received a glare for it.

"Shh! I hear the paddles. It's about to start."

Despite the fact that no one else had heard anything, Toph was right. A referee of some sort had taken to the front of the racing line, arms lifted overhead to signal for silence from the crowd. After a series of complicated hand gestures, a loud clap resounded and a gong was pounded nearby to send the boats off. Each one held a drummer at the tail, beating a steady rhythm that set the pace for the men with the oars.

As the water pushed and pulsed, it was all she could do to stay in her seat. It was a truly beautiful thing, with the waves cresting at the dragons' heads like blue and white fire mingling on their breath. The vibrant color of the painted boats against the sheen of yellow sunlight on the river's surface was another spectacle in and of itself. She never knew something as simple as a race could be so breathtaking.

A cough at her elbow broke her concentration. "Katara, I—"

"Toph, I wish you could see this. It's extraordinary."

But her friend never heard her. The coughing swallowed the words, and as Toph collapsed to the makeshift floor of the tent, it was in a puddle of spittle and blood.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks for sticking with me, guys! And even more reviews! I'm about to fall over in my chair. You don't know how happy they make me, seriously.

For those of you waiting for Zutara, sorry to tease you with only glimpses here and there. I just truly believe it's about the little things, when you realize you're comfortable enough to touch the person's shoulder, then their hand, or maybe their face, or give them a hug or share something no one else knows about you... Those are what make a truly compelling romance, in my humble opinion. So this chapter (with its little glimpses) is just the building block of what's to come, I promise! Thanks for reading again, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Four

* * *

"We've received a few reports of people in the Earth Kingdom falling ill, but nothing truly alarming—"

"Why wasn't I told of this sooner?"

Katara found herself seeing Zuko in a whole new light. As the Fire Lord he was forceful, aggressive, slightly domineering—but it all proved how much he cared about his people, and the people in other nations as well. He was pacing across the room now, footsteps veritably storming through the hall, but his advisors didn't cower and shrink as she'd expected they would. Five years had been long enough for them to learn this young man was nothing like the one who ruled before him, no matter their blood relation.

"Sire, we had no reason to believe it was anything more than a simple sickness spreading through one small group of people—"

"I should have been given the chance to judge that for myself. I want our ships used to transport the best healers from around the world to the sickest villages immediately. And those ships had better be fully stocked with medicine and other staple supplies as well."

She was glad to be safely ensconced in one corner, Iroh seated beside her. The reports of the Earth Kingdom healers sat in her lap, though a quick shuffle through them had merely confirmed her fears. They'd found no cure for the ailment, though it struck only benders and wasn't contagious. It was only a minor blessing.

"My Lord, if I may…"

An older gentleman stepped forward and the others bowed as they moved out of the way. Whoever he was, he seemed to be of some importance. Katara realized even she was waiting in tense anticipation for what he might have to say.

"The Avatar currently graces our fine nation with his presence. Perhaps he can shed some light on what portent this may have for the rest of us. A thousand lifetimes surely must be more than enough to tell us whether such a thing has occurred before."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Sage Weizhe. You are all dismissed."

She watched the men shuffle out somberly in a single-file line of red and gold. It was strange that after only a few days in the Fire Nation, she'd grown so used to seeing the various shades of scarlet and crimson at every turn. To a certain extent it concerned her that she could so easily acclimate to a complete absence of her favorite shades of blue.

But there wasn't time to think about silly things like that. Zuko had already taken the seat at her left, leaning over her shoulder as he motioned toward the papers still loosely bound where they rested on her knees. "Anything of worth in there?"

She shook her head as she flipped through the pages. "There are a few pieces of good news, I suppose. This sickness isn't contagious, and it only affects benders, but they haven't been able to determine a cure." With a sigh she handed the parchment back to Zuko so he could look for himself. "In my own work with Toph I haven't been able to find what's causing the coughing to begin with, I just stemmed the blood to buy her some time. But from these reports she could still live to be a hundred or she could die in two weeks. I'd rather not wait to find out."

"You know the Avatar better than most of us, Lady Katara," Iroh cut in, with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What has he said about this sudden epidemic?"

"Just that this is all his fault. I don't know what he means. Maybe he sensed Toph was ill and didn't say anything sooner? Either way he won't leave her side."

Zuko's fist clenched around the paper before he stood, giving the parcel a careless toss onto the desk nearby. "As the Avatar he'll have to do more than just blame himself or worry over the sick if we're going to have any chance of finding a cure. We need to speak to him." But by 'we' she knew he meant her, as his golden gaze was settled on her with a silent plea that she make Aang see reason.

"I can talk to him…" she finally obliged, though she desperately wanted to add that there were no guarantees she'd get through to him after five years of their friendship dwindling. However, she wouldn't allow herself the possibility of failure; inaction could cost them the life of one of their friends.

They found Aang right where she had left him, clutching one of Toph's pale hands in his and hunched over the side of the bed while the earthbender slept. It was a peaceful sleep thanks to Katara's intervention, but she knew it was only a matter of time before another coughing fit began.

"Aang, we—"

"I know why you came, Katara." When he looked up, she could tell he'd been crying. Something in her heart lurched a little at the sight. "You hope I can fix this, right? Make it all go away, cure the whole Earth Kingdom before it spreads everywhere else. Well I can't. I don't know how. I've never been able to heal like you." That arrow disappeared from sight when he buried his face again.

She didn't know what to say. Experiencing firsthand what it was like to have her healing powers achieve little to nothing, she could only imagine how it must have felt to be powerless altogether. Thankfully Zuko stepped in, even if he was a bit firmer than she would have liked.

"Aang, no one's going to get any better if you're sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. We don't need you to heal everyone. We need you to figure out if something like this has ever struck before. As the Avatar you've lived enough lives that one of them must know if it's happened, and thus how to cure it."

"I don't want to leave Toph. In order to ask the other spirits, I'd have to go—"

Now he was just being stubborn, and it was Katara's turn to be forceful. "Aang, we can make sure nothing happens to her. In fact, I'm sure Zuko wouldn't mind sending right now for Yugoda, and she's the best healer I know! Better than I am."

"But what if they don't know anything?" His voice was getting even smaller, but she wasn't about to relent.

"I'll go with you. That way, if it's never happened before, we can go find a cure ourselves."

"I'll go, too." Even Aang looked up in shock when Zuko volunteered. "At least as far as the Avatar's shrine. That way if a search is needed, you'll have everything at the Fire Nation's disposal to aid you on your journey."

"We'll do this together, Aang," she echoed, moving over to place an arm around his shoulders in half of a comforting hug.

It still took several moments before the airbender spoke, his voice quavering. "Then we have to go to Kyoshi Island. She might know if something like this happened." The sadness was still in his expression when he turned back to Toph, sleeping peacefully throughout. "We'll save you, Sifu. I promise."

* * *

A week later they finally stepped foot on Kyoshi Island. Preparations for their departure alone had taken five days, with ships sailing in and out of the capital city at rates unseen since the end of the war. Yugoda had been installed as Toph's personal caretaker. Aang had been hesitant at first, but after overhearing the older woman deal with the earthbender's cantankerous nature without batting an eye, he was willing to hand over the reins and climb aboard Appa with the rest of them. Sokka, Suki, and even the mischievous Satoru were also in tow, Sokka proclaiming that he would help if a hunt was needed while his wife convalesced with her family for the duration. Katara could see the pregnant warrior wasn't entirely too pleased about having to stay behind but had accepted it with the quiet dignity that she'd always admired about her sister-in-law.

Iroh would act as the Fire Lord in Zuko's absence, and he was the one who saw them all off. He pulled his nephew aside for a few private words that left both of them looking pained, but Katara brushed away the niggling concern she felt when the young firebender took a seat beside her in the saddle. They were all pained about the situation, and she knew Aang wasn't the only one with reservations over leaving Toph—albeit in more than capable hands.

Aang immediately set off for Kyoshi's temple as soon as they arrived, refusing to eat or sleep until he'd fulfilled his mission for visiting the island in the first place. Despite the generous hospitality of Suki's family, none of them felt much like dining or resting. They'd had a hard ride with little rest as it was, but slumber was the furthest thing from their minds. Their consolation was that the island was untouched by the plague as of yet, still a tranquil corner of the world virtually left alone by the rest of it.

Hours later he returned, looking haggard and much older than his seventeen years. Katara could only imagine that having the wisdom of countless generations pressed upon his slender shoulders all at once must have had a draining effect on him. Still, he refused food or a soft bed until he shared what he'd learned.

Gathered around a campfire near the center of the village, he told them how the Avatar wasn't the first being to walk the earth. When its spirit was still residing in the planet itself there were eight who lived, died, and ascended, Immortal caretakers of the world—the very ones who decided which child would be the next Avatar when each cycle began. It was their task to keep watch over the balance of the living, just as it was the Avatar's to keep the harmony between the elements.

"So how do we talk to these Immortals? Do you do your glow thing and tap into their spirit like you do with the past Avatars?" Sokka might have needed some help in the technical aspects but it was a question they all wanted to ask.

"No," Aang said, the anguish in his voice as he buried his face in his hands. "This is all my fault. Because I was in that iceberg, that's why the balance crumbled. Kyoshi said—they _all_ said that I can't be the one to ask the Immortals for guidance."

"Surely there must have been some good news, Aang…" Katara was trying to hope for the best, despite that she could almost feel everyone's hopes falling around the circle.

"I can help the sick in the meantime. I took away Ozai's firebending. I can do the same for the afflicted earthbenders enough to slow the disease so it won't be fatal." He seemed even more solemn at the prospect. "And there are ways to reach the Immortals here in this world. They told me their homes remain, some turned into temples, shrines, and each leads to the next until a portal to the spirit world can link anyone worthy directly to them." There was emphasis on the word 'worthy' that sent a slight chill down Katara's spine. Somehow she doubted that would be judged without some sort of test.

"That's easy, then. We just go to these temple places, follow whatever map they give us, and bam, talk to them in the spirit world. Shouldn't take very long at all," Sokka chimed in, with his typical nonchalance.

"It's not that easy," Aang countered, ire erupting only for the younger man to slump again in his telling exhaustion. "It's not that easy at all."

"Alright, what _is_ that easy is everyone getting some rest for the first time in days," Katara immediately jumped in, even reaching down to help Aang to his feet, offering him her shoulder to lean on. "I think we can decide what we need to do in the morning. We'll all be able to judge things more clearly after a good night's sleep."

Even Aang begrudgingly agreed, allowing her to tuck him into bed in one of the guest rooms provided for them. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, probably the case for most of them when tempted by the comfort of warm blankets and a soft mattress. But she wasn't so lucky.

She knew she was meant to find the cure. It was something she could virtually feel was right, more than anything else she'd done in the five years since the comet appeared. Even the noble pursuit of teaching and improving her craft had never given her such a sense of fulfillment as the impending journey did. Yet it scared her. Just as she knew she would go, she knew Aang had left much unsaid about the nature of the search. _It's not that easy_ kept ringing in her ears.

Still unable to sleep an hour later, she finally slipped outside to the remnants of the campfire. It had been reduced to nothing more than a few glowing cinders, but the light of the moon was more than enough to illuminate the clearing.

"Yue, if only I had your courage," she remarked with a wistful smile. "You did what was right without any hesitation."

"I don't remember you talking to yourself five years ago," came quietly behind her.

She jumped. "Zuko. How do you always find me? Nevermind. I wasn't talking to myself, actually. I was talking to the moon."

"Oh, right. Sokka's former girlfriend. He sort of told me about that once."

Leave it to mention of Sokka to lighten her mood. Unfortunately, it only helped a little. "So why are you out here?"

"I'm pretty sure it's for the same reasons you are. Couldn't sleep?" She nodded. "Thinking about what might happen on the journey, but knowing you have to go anyway?" This time her nod was a bit more hesitant. "Like I said, same reasons."

"You're going back to the Fire Nation." But the way he looked at her made her second-guess that assumption. "Aren't you?"

He continued to look at her for a long moment before finally shaking his head and turning his gaze skyward as hers was when he first found her. "I need to do this. I need to prove to the world that I'm serious about restoring peace and prosperity for more than just the Fire Nation."

"Zuko, they know you're serious. I watched how well you handled everything, how your advisors respect you and don't fear you, and it shows how much you actually _care_ about everyone. You're a good Fire Lord without doing this."

"It's not about being a good Fire Lord, Katara. It's about being a good person. Doing what's right for the whole world. Proving that I _don't_ need a crown for that." His jaw clenched and she almost winced at how harsh it made his scar seem, even in the pale light.

"You are a good person."

"Compared to my sister or my father, sure. But what good have I done that hasn't been tied up in politics since they were overthrown?"

"You brought Yugoda to tend to Toph," she quickly pointed out, sure she'd won a point.

He didn't see it that way. "That was your idea. I merely facilitated it."

"Well, then, you… You hunted for fire lilies with me so I wouldn't get lost or worse all alone on the outskirts of the crater." It was a bit of a stretch, but she hoped she sounded convincing.

"That was hardly good." And with the way he purposefully looked away, she was sure the subject wasn't open for debate.

"Your uncle knows you're a good person. Just ask—"

"Katara, my uncle is the one who suggested I accompany Aang, or you, or whoever decides to go on this mission in the first place. He knows I need to do this. For my own sake." And before she could offer more protest he was catching her hand in his own. "Please don't try to talk me out of this. I thought you would understand. Maybe I take it for granted that you will too often. You seem so understanding when it comes to everyone else."

She could have laughed, were it not for the earnest look on his face. In that moment she realized how much she admired his tenacity, his sense of honor, his knowledge of duty, his dedication to doing what was right no matter what anyone thought. "I do understand. I… I need to do this, too. For my own sake."

"At least you've done plenty in five years. Teaching, training, and you've been with your family…"

Now she felt like he was patronizing her, and she finally shook her head. "I've avoided doing anything. I've avoided making choices about my future. I've avoided having a life of my own. I've been a coward."

"Then you do understand." And it was as his voice softened that she realized they were still holding hands.

He must have realized it too for no sooner did she glance down than he released her fingers. Briefly, she lamented over how cold hers felt when his warm ones weren't around them. Firebenders were lucky, she told herself to shrug it off.

"Sokka—" she began, but no sooner had she said her brother's name than she knew what Zuko would say.

"Can't come with us. He has a family to think about. The journey could be dangerous."

"And Aang already said the other Avatars warned him against it."

"I think it was more than a warning," he remarked with his mouth in a grim line.

"So it's just us."

He said nothing, though that line did lilt at one corner to form some semblance of a half-smile.

"Just like old times," she added, with an attempt at her own small smile. But it was a lie, just like her words were. It wouldn't be like old times at all.

Thankfully he didn't call her on it. Instead, before she could ask when he was offering a smooth, "Three hours, just before dawn. We'll meet here. And while I don't think I need to tell you not to tell anyone, leave Sokka a note or something so he doesn't kill me, would you?"

Finally, for the first time in what seemed like a long time, she laughed out of nothing more than pure amusement.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Sorry for the (relative) delay on this chapter. Life hit, blah blah. Won't bore you with the details. Keep the feedback coming, and thank you for all you've given me so far! ;3 To my faithful readers: I can't thank you enough! You make writing this fic that much more rewarding.

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Five

* * *

For three hours she wasn't able to sleep. At first she laid awake, counting the stars, hoping her friends wouldn't be too upset upon finding her missing the next morning, wondering what she should say to Sokka that wouldn't have him immediately running after them. When she couldn't stand to do nothing but fret she began writing, wasting about five sheets of paper before opting to leave a note for Suki instead. Her sister-in-law would understand, and hopefully be able to soften the blow to her brother's warrior pride.

Finally it was time to set out. She could feel it in the waning of the moon's power. Sneaking out of the house was a task she anticipated to be simple, and with a smug smile of accomplishment at getting out unnoticed – not to mention leaving Suki's note by their bedside without being detected – she rounded the corner from the alley en route to the campfire…

…only to come face-to-face with Aang.

"Don't say anything. He already told me," the Avatar said while she sputtered for an explanation. When a hooded Zuko came into sight behind him, she knew who 'he' was. "I can't believe you're doing this. _Again._"

"Aang, five years ago was hardly the same—"

"I know. I want you to take Appa."

The rest of her protest died on her lips. "What?"

To his credit, he even managed a ghost of a smile. "If I can't help everyone, at least he can. Besides, he knows the way." She still must have looked confused, for he gathered her in one of his lanky hugs and added, "I know why you guys have to do this. I'm just glad it's you two. I know you'll do it for Toph. And don't worry; I'll talk to the others."

She barely had time to hug him back before he was stepping away, sending Zuko a look and disappearing through the shadows that lingered across the pathway toward the sleepy village. All she could do was stare after him in mild disbelief, finally shaking her head and turning back to the waiting firebender nearby. "Did you expect any of that?"

"No. When he was waiting out here I thought he was going to talk us out of it."

"What did he say to you?"

"The same thing he said to you, more or less. He understands why we're doing this. We're taking Appa. The first Immortal apparently lived here on Kyoshi Island. Well, it wasn't an island then, but his home is on one of the cliffs by the sea." The wind was picking up, promising a hot summer day even for the temperate clime of the isle. As it ruffled the cowl of his cloak she realized she saw dark hair now framing his face.

"You cut your hair," she said, with her surprise registering clearly in her tones.

He briefly smirked. "We don't know where this journey will take us, but the world holds plenty of animosity toward the Fire Nation even after five years. I can't afford to be recognized, much less as royalty."

As he said it, she realized the cloak he wore wasn't his own. It was barely tight across the shoulders, and a dull shade of green, obviously of Earth Kingdom make. She gave him the benefit of the doubt that the garment wasn't stolen. "Is that why you're wearing green?"

"If you don't remember, I _have_ worn green before."

She did remember. The crystal caverns of Ba Sing Se. It was something she'd never forget.

"We've already wasted enough time. Let's go."

They found Appa on the outskirts of the village. It seemed Aang had already visited his friend, for the bison was waiting for them and lifted off as soon as Zuko gave Katara a hand into the saddle. Neither of them said a word on the ride, though she watched him as he sat pensive across from her. It wasn't anything like five years ago when he took her to search for the man who killed her mother, but just how different it would be remained a mystery. She'd have to lie to say it didn't frighten her.

Before she could give any credence to her fears Appa came to a halt, hovering near the cliff face several yards lower than the plateau with the potentially breathtaking view up above. It startled Katara from her reverie when she found herself staring at nothing but a sheet of rock.

"Appa, why did you stop?" she called as she leaned over the edge of the saddle, knuckles whitening around the rim of it as she realized just how high they were above the placid surface of the bay far, far below.

Zuko's hand on her shoulder steadied her, and his other pointed beyond her toward a pattern set of cracks and crevices facing them. "I think that's the door."

She gawked. "_That_? How on earth is someone supposed to get there _without_ flying?"

His indicative finger traced the remnants of a ridge leading from the vista above to the peculiar doorway. "I think that was supposed to be a path."

Once upon a time perhaps. Now it was crumbling and barely looked sturdy enough to have even a single foothold on it. "You call that a path?"

"I'd assume it was built thousands and thousands of years ago. The wind and weather has eroded it over time," he said as he got to his feet, offering her a hand up.

"So now what?" It followed a gulp as she stood beside him, eyeing the microscopic – in her mind – ledge that stood in front of the door. "You don't expect me to walk on that thing, do you?"

"No, I expect you to jump. I'll go first to make sure it's safe enough to catch us, and then you make the leap when I give you the okay."

Needless to say she didn't like the plan. However, she wasn't given a choice. He was already hopping from the saddle onto the sliver of earth in front of them. Thankfully the worst that happened was a small cloud of dust from his feet meeting the ground.

"Perfectly fine. Now you jump," he instructed as he turned around to face her, an arm extended to further reassure her that she wouldn't fall.

She still didn't like the plan, but hesitating would steal away her nerve. Unwilling to let that happen she braced herself and finally made the jump, her heel lighting right on the very edge of the earthen lip. As it crumbled beneath her it was Zuko's hand around her wrist that pulled her to safety, and into the frame of the earthen door as well as into his own lean frame. Breathless – and scared witless – all she could do was stare up at him with flushed cheeks in silent gratitude.

"You're welcome," he said with just a tinge of a smile, before releasing her hand as he shouldered his way into the door to open it for both of them.

A huge cloud of dust swallowed them as the portal scraped open, and as she fanned it away from her face she coughed out a sarcastic, "Guess no one keeps these places neat and tidy like they do the Avatar temples."

"At least if no one's been here for centuries we know nothing's made it their den either," he pointed out, amid his own coughing fit.

That sent a chill down her spine. The last thing they needed was to stumble across the home of a saber-tooth moose-lion—or worse. "Let's just make this as quick as possible either way."

"No complaints here."

With a snap of his fingers a flicker of flame lit their way. There was only one way to go, straight into a tunnel that they couldn't see the end to. He insisted on going first, and when he drew one of his Dao swords she realized he had both strapped to his back. Apparently he was as wary of danger on this trip as she was.

Luckily the worst they faced as they stooped to walk through the passageway were some overgrown roots and weeds that had poked through over the years. In most cases they were easily avoidable; he cut away the ones that weren't. There were several times she thought she heard something scurrying in the darkness just out of reach of their circle of light but she told herself she was imagining things and forced herself to keep moving forward.

"We're heading up," was the first thing he said to break the silence, after what seemed like hours following the tunnel. She wasn't sure how he could tell until he pointed toward the ground overhead and the cracks in it that were beginning to filter in the slightest hints of daylight.

By the time they reached the end of the passage, her back was aching from having to slouch the whole way. Considering Zuko was a head or so taller than she was, she could only imagine how tough it had been on him. He didn't complain, however, simply extinguishing the firelight when the chamber the tunnel opened into proved to have nothing more than a latticed ceiling overgrown with weeds and vines to nearly block out the sunlight. It still poked through in enough places to light the room in an eerie, almost ethereal glow.

In the center of the room stood a statue, a young child holding a bamboo flower basket at her side. At least, Katara assumed it was a girl but truthfully she didn't know, and she wasn't about to make a fool out of herself asking. "That must be the Immortal," was all she said, peering down to try and read the plaque at the base of the statue, only to find the etching virtually illegible. All she could make out was "Cai."

"Now we find the map. It must be here somewhere." He still had his sword drawn, using it to cut away the vines concealing the walls, poking at the cracks of the floor—only to find a stone that gave a little. "Watch where you step. The floor's coming loose."

But she was already one step ahead. "Zuko, I think it's supposed to be loose. Look at all the writing on the floor. It must mean something."

Sure enough the stones scattered across the floor were etched with the same script as the plaque she'd been trying to read, although they'd survived the elements and the toll of time much better than the little bronze square tacked on the front of the statue. As they both took a step back to survey the whole scene, it grew evident that the cracks he'd been poking his sword into weren't really cracks at all.

"Grooves," he said, pointing to the six parallel lines running across the floor. "But what are they for? And there are tiles missing…" Several spots stood gaping open.

Another look around the room proved they weren't missing at all, but stacked against the walls in piles he'd originally deemed little more than rubble. "There are so many of them," she finally said, trying to make a quick tally, but ending with a disheartened, "Over fifty."

"Maybe if we arrange them a certain way, a hidden compartment will open or something." When she gave him a skeptical look, he threw up his hands, finally sheathing his sword. "Well, do you have any other bright ideas?"

Unfortunately she didn't.

"These things weigh much more than they should," he groaned as he shoved one from the pile, letting it fall with a thud upside-down, revealing a thin rivet of stone on the bottom. They both looked at each other with the same epiphany.

"So we know where they go. But there has to be an order or something. They're covered in writing. Does it say anything?"

"Doesn't writing always say something? Otherwise it wouldn't be writing," he quipped dryly, as he toiled to lift the six inch square tile.

"You know what I mean. The words. Do they have significance to you?" She was hovering over the ones already facing up in or near the grooves, though all of them seemed slightly askew. "'Fire from heaven,' 'warring nations crumble,' 'when generations cross…' I don't know; it doesn't make any sense to me."

He dropped the stone he'd carried over on the outside of the center square marked by the grooves, wiping his sleeve across his brow. "This was clearly meant to be done by an earthbender. I wonder if all the places we go will be like this."

"Zuko, we need to figure this out or it won't matter that we're not earthbenders," she finally snapped. It sounded a lot harsher than she'd wanted, but she couldn't take it back.

"Read them to me again," was all he said, and she could tell he was keeping his temper in check.

"There's 'fire from heaven,' and 'warring nations crumble,' 'when generations cross,' and over here there's 'old wisdom lost' and 'the wind fades…' Do you want me to read more?"

"It's a song."

She stared at him incredulously. "It doesn't sound like it would make a very good song…"

"That's because it all came true. I learned it as a Fire Nation prophecy, but it was only adopted as one under Sozin's reign. That's what my uncle told me, anyway."

"Do you remember how it goes?"

"I think so. It starts 'When generations cross, fire from heaven scars the earth…' Just help me get all the pieces over here and I can start putting them together."

But it was easier said than done. What shouldn't have weighed more than twenty pounds weighed at least double that. It was clear there was something supernatural afoot, and an earthbender would have been a blessing—if not a must-have to accomplish the task. Hours later they'd only succeeded in finishing one row of the lyrics, and it was starting to get dark.

"It can't be sundown already," Zuko growled in frustration, conjuring another flame as the light in the room steadily dimmed.

"It's not," she said, rubbing the small of her back as she stepped under one of the holes in the lattice overhead. "It's going to rain."

"_Great_. Because this wasn't hard enough without the stones being wet."

"Just hurry up. We have a little time left before the monsoon will hit."

"_Monsoon_?!"

"Just _hurry_."

In another hour they finished the second row, but they were still only half done, and Zuko was wiping raindrops from his brow instead of sweat. It was harder to get a grip on the tiles, and soon the grooves were flooded like mini rivers. Katara even briefly panicked that the whole room could get flooded, but at worst it would drain into the tunnel and give them a very, very muddy trek back to wherever Appa was waiting.

"Maybe we should wait out the storm. The water—"

But as soon as he said it, she cut in, "—is the best thing that could have happened for us. Don't you get it? We kept saying we needed an earthbender, but what _do_ we have? A waterbender! I can bend the water underneath the tiles. It's even in the grooves already."

"Are you sure?"

She was too tired to even get indignant over the fact that he doubted her skill. "Just tell me how the rest of the song goes. And find a dry place to stand so you can give me some light if I need it."

It took longer than she wanted – even the monsoon had long since abated – but eventually with the push and pull of the puddles the tiles were settled into place. The last one fell into the groove with a slight splash, setting off a chain reaction of clinks as they floated on the rising water level.

Moments passed. Nothing happened.

"Is that it?" she finally asked, suddenly feeling as if she wanted to cry. She refused to let herself.

"I know I got the lyrics right." He took a step closer, lifting his flame higher to illuminate the etched words across the square. As the stones clinked together again, he tentatively stepped on one corner, pushing it into the groove. "The water is keeping them from locking together. Are you able to bend it out of the way?"

Without a word she began the task, and as she drew the last drop from beneath the tiles, the entire floor began to rumble. No sooner had she flung the excess moisture out of the latticed grate overhead than it started to quake, throwing her against one wall while Zuko collided with the other. The stones in the center were shifting, some sinking in a complex pattern until the shaking stopped and only a handful remained above the rest.

She rubbed her battered side as she moaned an exasperated, "What does it all mean? Please don't tell me we have to move those again."

"We don't," he said simply, beckoning her over to where he already stood at the edge of the mismatched stones. "Look, Katara. It's a map."

"A map? How can you even tell?" It looked like nothing more than a few crooked stepping stones to her.

"Because it's the Fire Nation. The archipelago, see? The capital, there," he pointed as he spoke, "and the Boiling Rock there, and that's Crescent Island, and that…" He trailed off, staring at the only stone elevated far above the rest.

Fire Nation geography had never been her strong suit. "It's where we're going next, right? Well, what is it?"

"Ember Island."

It was like a flood of relief washed over her whole body. At least they wouldn't be climbing cliff faces or mucking through dingy tunnels this time around. A look over her shoulder confirmed that the journey back to Appa would indeed be a filthy one. Yet she also noticed something amiss: the statue had moved.

It held that basket aloft, as if expecting them to take it with them. Hesitant for only a moment, she moved over and found she could easily lift what otherwise seemed a solid stone rendering of the flower holder. She'd seen enough of the place to take it in stride.

"I guess we're supposed to take this to Ember Island with us. Do you still have that family house and everything? We'll be able to eat and sleep well and rest after this exhausting ordeal…"

But her words came short when she noticed the grim look on his face. Maybe he knew something she didn't, as a trip to the island seemed an issue of extreme unpleasantness to him.

"Or… did something happen I should know about? There isn't a volcano on that island that erupted or something, is there?"

His jaw clenched for a moment and she was almost sure he'd merely turn around and begin the trek through the tunnel again. At the last moment, however, he sent her a slight smirk. "Of course not. I still have the house. Let's go."

Whatever his reasons for disliking their next destination, Katara had a sinking feeling Ember Island would not be the vacation hideaway everyone always thought it to be.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay, guys! Had this chapter done several days ago, but with the site's issues I couldn't put it up until now. With that apology out of the way, all I can say is... please don't hate me for this chapter!

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Six

* * *

"I can't believe they still perform that _awful _play at the theater here. You're the Fire Lord; can't you forbid it or something?"

The journey to Ember Island had been wholly uneventful. They'd arrived early in the morning, and Katara found the house Zuko owned had been fully renovated and refurbished -- the epitome of luxury. It was clear the young man had spared no expense. When she'd asked the reason for the redecoration, he had offered nothing more than a cryptic "for old time's sake" before pointing her in the direction of a hot bath and a closet full of Fire Nation clothes she could change into in order to blend in.

Two hours later they were enjoying ice cream – at her request – and staring at the latest poster advertising the Ember Island Players' latest performance: _The Haunted Pond._

"I did force them to change the ending," Zuko admitted with a chuckle, in reference to her last encounter with the terrible acting troupe.

"_Just_ the ending? What about the fact that Aang was played by a girl? And Toph was played by a man! Or that the actor had a scar on the wrong side of his face? Or…" She was about to mention the romance in the caves of Ba Sing Se but for some reason it stuck in her throat.

Thankfully he didn't seem to notice, as all he had for a reply was a shrug. "I actually enjoy some semblance of anonymity here because of that misplaced scar. I left the rest up to artistic license."

"Artistic license, if you say so. I'd hate to see what they're completely ruining with this latest play."

That prompted another laugh from him. "Be careful what you wish for. We're attending that play tonight."

She almost choked on her latest mouthful. "_What_?!"

"Ever since we left Kyoshi Island I've been trying to think of anywhere here on Ember that could have been the home of one of the Immortals. Well, the lotus pond that play is about is the closest thing I can think of." He pointed to the poster, and the pond depicted on it. "Some say it's holy, some say it's haunted. Either way we'll find out."

"A pond?"

"It's the best lead we have for now. Besides, we might be able to gather some information spending the day mingling through the crowds. I know most of them are just wealthy tourists, but some of the folks are locals."

Unfortunately, that proved easier said than done. They did come across a few locals, but their attempts to pry for information came to nothing. Not only were the Ember Island residents tight-lipped, they seemed scared of the pond in question. It led Katara to wonder whether it truly was haunted.

Several hours later they were seated in the very back of the theater, a section Zuko told her was reserved for only the wealthiest of patrons, but was guaranteed to keep them out of sight of the masses. "Wear something nice just in case," he had told her, and thus she was decked out in the best that closet had offered, and she'd even piled her hair on top of her head in the style she'd noticed throughout the day. It wasn't wholly unbecoming, but she felt incredibly strange without her hair looped in the front.

He said nothing about her appearance – hairstyle or otherwise – so she could only assume she'd done enough to mostly blend in. Obviously if anyone were to investigate they'd see bright blue eyes staring back at them and tan skin peeking above the collar of her gown that always gave her away. In accordance with the last time she'd needed a Fire Nation disguise, she had in fact left her mother's betrothal necklace behind at the house. They couldn't afford to lose precious time over something as silly as a piece of jewelry.

Luckily they did blend in. Despite the acting being as awful as Katara remembered, the audience actually seemed intent on watching—and there was quite a crowd that night. It was a packed house, and all the better for them to remain virtually unnoticed where they sat in the back. In fact, it was so packed and they went so unnoticed that when Katara swore she saw a familiar face seated a handful of rows in front of them, Zuko didn't seem to share her observation.

_All the better_, Katara told herself, intent on doing what she could to ensure their paths didn't cross the young woman's who sat in front of them. After all, it was none other than the infamous Mai.

She was seated beside another young woman that looked eerily like Ty Lee but older, and from what she vaguely remembered hearing of Ty Lee's past, she had to assume it was one of her sisters. Every once in awhile the women would whisper amongst each other, laugh, and when the play was over, Katara realized she'd spent more time watching them than the actual performance. There was something that seemed strange about the way they interacted but she couldn't put her finger on it. In any case, she was more determined than ever to steer Zuko in the opposite direction of the way the other pair went.

Her plan worked perfectly. As the crowd shuffled out the double doors of the theater, she pointed out the back door they could use to make an easy, hassle-free escape. One of the stagehands gave them a glare, but otherwise they were able to get out into the bustling street before anyone was the wiser.

"That was a waste of time," Zuko commented once they joined the still milling crowd as it slowly began to disperse down the road. "Maybe we should go check out the pond ourselves and see if we find anything."

As if on cue, a peddler a few yards away was on a crate, hollering over the crowd, "Tours of the haunted pond all night! Want to see the ghost for yourself? Get yourself a tour guide right here, folks!"

They both looked at each other. It was only a minute before they also both busted out laughing.

"Let's go when there aren't a bunch of bumbling tourists and ghost hunters," was their consensus.

"You there, young lady! You want to take a tour, don't you?" the vendor was shouting. While the crowd was helping mask them, the downside was actually getting through it in order to call it a night.

"It sounds incredibly dull," said an all-too familiar monotone.

She winced. Hopefully Zuko hadn't heard that, and she could just gently nudge him in the other direction.

No such luck.

"Mai."

Katara was trying to find the positive spin on what would more than likely be an awkward encounter. At least they'd cleared most of the crowd and no one would be in earshot—save the salesman, who had already moved on to his next target. However, that was only a small consolation.

"Zuko?" That was from the Ty Lee-lookalike, who had immediately turned with an expression of shock on her face.

"Unfortunately," surmised Mai, who wore the same bored expression Katara remembered her being known for.

The lookalike was about to bow and knowing the eyes of the few passers-by could still turn on them at any moment, it was Katara who stepped forward to stop her. "Don't—"

Mai's sharp gaze quickly snapped to her, narrowing before she took matters into her own hands—literally. Before the other woman could move again, Mai wound an arm around her waist in a way that made Katara's jaw nearly drop. "Yes, dear, listen to the peasant waterbender because even she knows there's no need to bow."

Her jaw nearly dropped again at the bitterness lacing Mai's tone. After the war had come to an end, they'd all gotten to see a different side of the typically dour young woman. The behavior she saw here only reminded her of the days when Mai still considered Azula one of her best friends.

Zuko must have agreed, for he finally spoke again with a simple, "Mai, stop."

"Should I be surprised, Zuko? Because I'm not. Although it's comforting to see someone is getting good use out of _my_ clothes."

"Don't be ridiculous, Mai. You chose to leave it all behind."

Suddenly it all made sense to Katara. The refurnished house, the grim expression he'd worn when they first learned they'd be visiting the island, it was all because of _her_. And with the way Mai was acting, their break-up had been anything but pleasant. No wonder he'd dreaded coming back.

"True. And I definitely don't regret it." It came complete with another telling squeeze of her companion's waist. "Come on, Lan. Let's not let the entire evening go to waste."

Despite how badly the reunion ended, honestly Katara was just glad that it was over and the crowds were gone so no one witnessed it. Zuko was silent as a result, and though she gave his sleeve a gentle tug to set them back on the path toward the house, she didn't bother trying to excuse or explain away what just happened. It was usually better to let things lie, she'd learned.

At last he spoke, as they set foot on the stretch of beach that acted as a natural and over-lengthy front walk to the royal mansion. "Don't worry; I know what you're thinking. My ex-girlfriend leaves me for a woman. The jokes make themselves."

She frowned. "I wasn't thinking that at all…"

"That's because you're actually kind."

"Not really. I did want to water whip her across the face at one point."

He tried to smirk, but the expression didn't quite take, leaving his mouth in a grim line she was growing more accustomed to seeing than she liked. "She's entitled to treat me like that, but not you. We parted on bad terms, to say the least."

"You don't have to tell me."

"And if I want to?"

She bit her lip and merely offered a small shrug. Of course she would listen, the gesture said. At least he seemed to get the message, for he was veering off the path to the house and taking a seat on one of the logs that circled a fire pit. She took the hint and sat down beside him.

With a puff of air he'd already lit a fire, hunching down with his elbows on his knees as he let his head hang between them. "Do you know why I never hunted for fire lilies with Mai?" Her silence invited him to continue. "Because I don't want kids."

"I thought—" But she clapped a hand over her mouth and made a mental note not to interrupt again. Whatever she thought, she was obviously wrong.

"Oh, I'm _supposed_ to want children, and a family, to carry on the line indefinitely. But I can't help but think of how we turned out. Azula and I. Even my father… Do I want to pass that sort of legacy on? Of course not."

There were so many things she could say, and she was biting her tongue in order to keep silent. She briefly wished Iroh were present to knock some sense into his nephew since she knew he would.

"Mai wanted to get married, to settle down, and I knew that would just lead to more and more expectations. She started getting pushier, so I started pushing back. The house here on Ember is practically all hers, and in the last year of our relationship I doubt I visited even three times. I stayed away. I don't know why I did. I guess because of course I'd be destined to ruin my chances with the only girl who has ever cared about me like that." He paused to run a hand through his hair, giving it a slight ruffle as he did. "So now I'm alone. I've accepted it. I just concentrate on making sure everyone else is happy."

At that she couldn't help but throw in her two cents, placing a hand on his knee. "Zuko, it's not like you have to be alone _forever_. You're attractive," and though he gave her a skeptical look at that she pressed on, "and young and… well, I mean, Mai can't be the _only _girl who ever liked you. Right?" She desperately hoped she was right.

His silence wasn't very encouraging. But then he cracked a faint smile. "There was this girl in Ba Sing Se…" He leaned back, sending his gaze skyward. "Her name was Jin. She asked me for a date, actually. But I was Lee then, and when she kissed me, I realized that everything she thought she liked about me was a lie." His smile was gone. "With Mai, at least she knew all the worst about me."

All she could do was frown. "What about the best?"

"It's a lot easier to love the best of a person."

Unfortunately she couldn't argue with that. In fact, she was left without anything more to say, staring at his profile and knowing that the scar that marked the side of his face she could see was just one of those 'worst's he was counting against himself. She was immediately taken back to their own moment in Ba Sing Se, when she had a hand on his face and the water of the spirit oasis between them. What she'd give for some of that healing water now.

But she didn't have healing water. Even her touch to his knee seemed to pale in comparison to the comfort she wished she could give. And finally, on a whim, she leaned in and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to that scar.

Surprisingly, he didn't flinch. "What was that for?" he simply asked when he looked at her as she drew away.

"I wanted to make you feel better." It sounded incredibly lame when she said it aloud.

Apparently he thought so, too. "Sure. Getting a kiss from my friend out of pity really makes me feel so much better."

He'd caught her red-handed. She did feel bad for him, but more than that, she was convinced he didn't have to be alone. He _was_ attractive, in the ways that really counted. He was honorable, honest, hard-working, determined to make a difference and make the world a better place. It wasn't pity.

Without another word, her hand left his knee to catch his face, and she was leaning in to give him a proper kiss. But it wasn't meant to be; he jerked away and had an arm up to keep her at its length. "Katara, don't."

She didn't know what to say. She was suddenly ashamed that she'd even tried that, but more than ashamed she was angry that he'd stopped her. It wasn't as if she was a child and didn't know what was good for her.

Before she could say anything he was releasing her shoulder with a gentler, "Don't complicate things."

"As if things aren't complicated enough," she growled, getting to her feet. There was no helping her temper anymore. "We still don't have any idea where the next Immortal can be found." She knew she was grasping at straws but it was the only concrete thing she had to throw at him.

He got to his feet as well. "The two issues are completely unrelated," he pointed out gruffly. "You're being completely irrational. Just because I don't want your pity doesn't mean we can't find the next piece of the map."

Unfortunately all she heard was 'You're being completely irrational.' "It's not pity. But fine. I'll stop pitying you. There's no point wasting energy on such an obviously _hopeless cause_ right now anyway."

That made him flinch, and she instantly regretted it. Her temper wouldn't allow her to take it back, and before she could even try to make amends, he was waving her off. "Just go back to the house. Tomorrow we'll go to the pond and see what happens."

"Fine."

The entire walk back to the house she was flooded with feelings of guilt. She shouldn't have said what she did; she shouldn't have _done_ what she did. He'd opened up about his past – even above and beyond what happened with Mai – and she'd pushed and ruined the whole evening.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, _she chastised herself.

Her pride wouldn't let her go back and apologize. Instead, she camped out on the couch in the living room, working out an apology in her mind, over and over, planning to deliver it the moment he walked through the door.

The minutes ticked by and the door never even creaked. Before too long her eyes were drooping, and there on the couch she fell fast asleep.

When she woke the next morning, there was a pillow beneath her head and a blanket covering her legs. But there was no sign of Zuko.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Another shorter chapter... Basically I made the choice to chop Ember Island into two chapters rather than one super long one. From here on out expect it to go back to a bit more bulky. Thank you again for all of the great reviews! To my faithful readers and reviewers: I write this as much for you as for me! :)

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Seven

* * *

When a knock finally sounded at the door, she fully expected to swing it open and come face-to-face with her first opportunity to deliver that apology. Instead, she met a Fire Nation messenger.

"Er, I'm not sure where Zuko is, actually…" was all she could tell the man when asked.

Luckily, the Fire Lord was right on cue, coming up the path with a sack in one hand and the other ruffling his hair.

"Lord Zuko," the courier bowed, though Zuko waved off the formality and invited him in. He also pointedly ignored Katara's stern look questioning him about his conspicuous absence the entire night before and handed her the sack explaining that it contained their breakfast.

The young messenger seemed equally stubborn in adhering to formality and refused the invitation, politely. "I have more travelling to do, Sire. Your uncle has many messages for me to deliver."

"Iroh sent you?" Katara couldn't help but interrupt, belatedly biting her tongue when she realized the entire thing wasn't any of her business. At this rate she was starting to think she should blame the Ember Island Players for rubbing their stupidity off on her.

"Yes. The Avatar recently returned to the Capital to ascertain Lady Bei Fong's wellbeing, and informed Lord Iroh of your quest to commune with the Immortals. He wanted me to deliver this." Without further ado the man produced a small bundle wrapped in cloth, extending it to Zuko. "He also said to remind you that Lady Katara has not yet learned to play Pai Sho."

"Why would he think we have time for some silly game?" This time she blushed at her own lack of control, and when both men looked at her with varying levels of disapproval written in their gazes, she lifted the sack and backed away. "I'm just going to go make breakfast…" At least that way she couldn't interrupt further.

A few minutes later the sound of the front door swinging shut preceded Zuko's arrival in the kitchen, bundle set on the table as he began to unwrap it. At first she was quiet, already seated as his idea of breakfast hadn't required much preparation at all – it was only bread and fruit – and expecting him to enlighten her as to what the message and delivery could mean. But it quickly became apparent he wasn't going to say anything at all, his focus riveted on the curious present he'd unwrapped and was now turning over in his hands.

"Well…?" she finally prompted.

"It can't be that difficult," he muttered.

Some of her anger from the evening before twitched back to life. "Is that in reference to my complete inability to see how Pai Sho has _anything_ to do with our hunt for the Immortals? Or something else?" She immediately regretted it, and as she hastily continued, "I'm sorry. And I'm sorry about last night—" he cut her off.

"Don't you wonder how my uncle knew we would be here? No one else knew, not even Aang. We only knew we'd be coming to Ember _after_ we solved the first Immortal's puzzle."

She hadn't thought of that. This time she hoped he actually would enlighten her, despite that his attention still seemed to be on the object he was holding. It was a curious mix of pipes that she couldn't make any sense of.

"I just don't know what this is for," he eventually said, offering it to her to take a look. Unfortunately she was just as clueless.

"I've never even seen one of those before. Do you know what it is?"

"It's called a sheng. Except it's too small to be a real one, and it's made of something like stone—although it's the lightest stone I've ever held. It's a musical instrument."

"Wait, you said it's light, but made of stone? That sounds like the basket of flowers I took from the last place." Said basket was wrapped and stowed safely in her room as they spoke.

"So maybe that's it." He wrapped the instrument again, this time handing it to her. "I'll let you hang onto it. Keep it with the other. We don't need to take it with us."

"Are we going to the pond already? You didn't eat any breakfast—"

"I ate on the way back here, but no, we're not going to the pond. Yet."

"Then where?"

With a smirk on his face he retrieved a tile from one of his pockets, the small square emblazoned with a picture of a white lotus. "We're going to play some Pai Sho."

* * *

Katara soon found out that when Zuko said "_we_ are going to play some Pai Sho," he really meant that he was going to sequester himself in a room with some old man presumably to play the game while she was relegated to a seat in the parlor with the man's granddaughter. She was a nice girl, but the conversation quickly became stale when she realized that Katara was completely clueless about most of the 'hot' Fire Nation topics of discussion and wasn't much in the mood for friendly banter anyway. At least the tea was nice enough.

Needless to say she was more than relieved when Zuko finally emerged, bowing to the man and his family before steering Katara out of the home and onto the path outside before she could get a word in edgewise.

"Alright, now that we're out of earshot, go ahead and lecture me."

Oh, how well he knew her. It was disconcerting. Suddenly the stern words she did have at the ready tasted like ash in her mouth. "I— Okay, fine. I was going to lecture you but now I won't."

"Thank you," he said with a smug smirk. Meanwhile, he was steering her toward one of the cobbled lanes that headed out of town. "The pond's this way."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"Should I have more?"

"Well, for starters, your uncle sends you this cryptic message about Pai Sho and _me_ and yet I sit on a couch with some stranger for over an hour and all you have to say is 'the pond is this way'?"

He continued to wear that smirk. "I invited you to lecture me, too."

"You know what I meant!"

"Look, you're right. It was cryptic. It didn't have anything to do with you. My uncle was simply giving me," though at a glance at her expression he amended that statement, "_us_ a hint as to what might help us here on the island."

"Really? So you know where the next Immortal is?"

"Yes."

She waited for more but, as ever, it wasn't forthcoming. "Are you going to share?"

"We're going to the pond, aren't we?"

That was enough to quiet her, though she wasn't happy that he got the satisfaction of being right about the location all along. For some reason it irked her.

_That settles it, _she thought to herself. _I really need to get off this island. It's driving me crazy._

Maybe the pond really was haunted. They were about to find out.

* * *

"The pond isn't haunted. It turns out that was a rumor someone started to keep people from poking around too much."

"You could have told me that sooner! I've been creeped out by this place for awhile now."

Zuko only offered the information when she had to suppress a shriek over a cave-hopper coming too close for her comfort when they ducked inside the cave he claimed was the right place. She was already getting increasingly tired of dark, damp places being the resting place of the Immortals.

"It's right through here."

Lo and behold it really was. There was no trek for hours through the dirt this time. Zuko's firelight quickly lapped up the remnants of a torch bolted to the cavern wall nearby and Katara gratefully recognized that unlike the first Immortal, this one seemed less fond of intricate – and exhausting – puzzles.

The small chamber held only two things: a single stone chair, and beside it, a table carved with the makings of what seemed a Pai Sho board. While she'd never played the game, she knew enough to recognize it when she saw it. Apparently Iroh's cryptic message hadn't been too cryptic after all.

"Are you supposed to play or something?" she asked quietly, unwilling to rouse anymore of the cave-hoppers from their current places staring at them. She wasn't a very big fan of bugs, but what girl was? She was just intent on ignoring them.

"I don't know." He was already at the board, reaching for one of the pieces only to find it wouldn't budge. "I guess not."

"Did that man tell you more than how to get here?"

"He did give me one piece of advice I wasn't sure what to make of at first… 'Know your letters and numbers.' I just thought it would mean we'd have to piece together some version of the alphabet or something this time around."

She joined him at the table, reaching for one of the tiles herself. They seemed to be carved of the same stone the board itself was. In fact, as she took a step back, even the chair seemed attached to the same slab. The sculptor must have formed the whole scene out of one rock.

"Maybe…" And she perched herself on the chair, only to find nothing happened. When he gave her an odd look she immediately got back to her feet. "Hey, we should test everything, right?" In order to detract some of the attention away from her abysmal failure at discovering anything, she pointed back to the board. "Does the pattern mean anything to you? I've never played before, if you don't remember."

"No, it's nothing I've seen before. I'm sure if it was an established gambit uncle would have used it or taught it to me at least once over the years. But wait…"

"Wait what?"

Rather than answer her, however, he was lost in thought. Ever since the night before, she could feel the distance she'd put between them. It was startlingly tangible in moments like this, where he forged ahead without her, without consulting her, without even filling her in. She was infuriated and yet it only made her feel that much more ashamed about what had happened.

"Zuko, about last night—"

He looked at her sharply, frustration evident in the crease on his brow. "Now's not the time, Katara."

"Then when is? I just wanted to say I'm sorry—"

"It's fine. Let's forget about it."

She frowned but kept silent. Forget about it. She could do that. She could pretend it never even happened. Of course, the prospect only left a twisted feeling in her gut.

He seemed to sense her feelings for he was pointing toward the board, evidently ready to include her. "Remember what the man said. Letters and numbers. Well, the board could be a cipher."

"A code?" It was intriguing enough to erase her guilt and doubt—for the moment.

"Something like that. The way the tiles are arranged has to be significant. If you sit where you're supposed to," he moved to that side of the table, though he didn't actually sit down, "then this first tile would be on the letter 'A.'"

She continued to stare at the board, leaning over to look at the next, making a mental count before offering, "And the next would be 'M'?"

"Right. So we just figure out the rest and it should mean something. You take the last ones, I'll figure out these."

A few minutes later, he was frowning. "A-M-A-R… what were yours?"

Yet it was a minute before she could speak. The realization sent a chill down her spine and for a brief moment, she was afraid she'd need to sit in that chair or she'd faint. Whether he noticed how white she'd gotten or not, the sound of her name finally shook her out of the shock.

"Amarok. It says Amarok."

"You know what that is?"

She nodded mutely. His piercing gaze pressed her to say more. "It's… It's this maze, near where I grew up. It's infested with pigeon-wolves."

"Pigeon-wolves?"

"They're exactly what they sound like. Wolves with wings. We were told never even to go near the place. Once upon a time it was visited by young men of the village who wanted to prove their worth as warriors, but that tradition hasn't been upheld for decades." Not since the Fire Nation all but annihilated her people, she didn't need to say.

"So it's dangerous."

His nonchalance only illuminated her fear, riling something akin to indignance. "Dangerous? That's the tamest word possible! The reason it was always forbidden to venture there was because of how many people died over the years. Even when the young men would go they'd be accompanied by a full band of older, experienced warriors."

And they were just two young people trying to save the world.

"Did any of the men in the tribe go there when they were young?"

"Why does that even matter?"

"Just tell me. Were any of them taken there?"

She frowned, trying to think. "Well… My father was one of the last. I'm assuming Bato and some of the other men went, too." She saw where he was going with the questioning as she contemplated even more. "You think they could take us?"

"It's worth a shot. At the very least maybe they know the way through the maze."

_It's worth a shot._ That was what kept ringing through her head. Maybe it was. But then again, Zuko didn't know her father.

"I guess we're headed to the Southern Water Tribe, then." She'd let him find out what a force to be reckoned with Hakoda could be for himself. "Unless you wanted to spend another night here on the island."

There was silence before he donned his usual smirk. "I'll pass, thanks. We've wasted enough time as it is. I suppose I should apologize for making you attend that lousy play last night."

She was able to at least mostly laugh at that. "Yes, you should. But Ember Island wasn't all bad. At least this time we didn't waste a whole day shoving stone blocks around the floor."

"You mean _I_ didn't waste a whole day shoving stone blocks around the floor before you caught a lucky break and got to bend them into place."

She simply laughed again and shook her head. He was right, but it was still unsettling. He suddenly seemed so unwilling to invest in actual teamwork, and she knew it was all her fault.

_Is this what it's going to be like from now on?_ she couldn't help but wonder.

On the bright side he was still as chivalrous as ever, offering a hand into Appa's saddle when they finally made it back to the beach house and collected their belongings. But the ride was also as silent as ever, and while she assumed he was reflecting on the familiar face they met on Ember Island, she turned her sights ahead to Amarok.

Zuko saying it was dangerous was the understatement of a lifetime. Yet he wasn't to blame; she hadn't told him all she knew of the treacherous place. Not only was it a maze, it was hedged in by razor-sharp crystalline icicles, just waiting to pincushion anyone crazy enough to enter. Meanwhile, the pigeon-wolves lurked overhead, waiting to pounce on the first sight of flesh they caught from amid the icy barbs. She had to tell herself it was normal to be frightened, but she knew they had to go in there if they wanted to finish their quest.

_Let's hope my father helps us_, she silently prayed, sending Zuko a glance out of the corner of her eye. He didn't know her dad but she did. It wasn't that he wouldn't help them, she was sure he wouldn't want to let them go. But she was determined whether he gave his permission or not. It was the only way to save Toph.

"My father might need some convincing," she finally confessed after they'd been soaring in silence for a few hours.

"Somehow I doubt even he can resist your persuasive brand of arguing, Katara."

He said it with a slight smile, and she found she couldn't say more. Her concerns remained, but for the first time since learning of their next destination, she actually felt hopeful. She could only hope it lasted.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I'm taking for granted the fact that Hakoda is the Southern Water Tribe Chief, even though it's never explicitly stated in canon. Bear with me. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who have been bearing with me this whole time! Otherwise, all I have to say is enjoy! :)

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Eight

* * *

For two days they traveled in stilted silence. Only the most perfunctory conversation passed between them, such as where they should stop to rest, who would gather the food, if he wanted more of what she'd cooked, if she needed the fire a bit larger to do that cooking…. By the time they reached the South Pole she was certain she'd bitten her tongue until it was bleeding more times than she could count, and she was so awash in guilt – and anger – that she welcomed the unexpected sight of Suki and her brother, as it meant she could vent to someone about the entire experience without fear of Zuko hearing about it.

Of course, it also meant there were two disapproving male family members to contend with when they told the tribe the reason they were visiting.

"Absolutely not," was her father's gruff response when she said she was going into Amarok.

"But—"

"No, Katara, there are no 'but's. Amarok is too dangerous."

"So you won't even help us?"

"Now, I didn't say that." It seemed even her father wasn't immune to the distress creeping into her voice. But as soon as his expression seemed to soften, he hardened his resolve again and clenched his jaw. "Let me speak to Zuko."

_Zuko, Zuko, Zuko_. She was sick and tired of him being the one who did everything—_without_ her. However, she knew when to choose her battles and with her determined father was not the time or place to unleash that frustration. "Fine. Maybe he'll get you to see reason," she muttered under her breath as she left the igloo.

It didn't take long for Zuko to emerge from the building, and she was sure he'd have faced the same rejection she did. Instead her brother came out soon after him, clapping him on the shoulder before heading back to the tent he was sharing with Suki. Zuko wore a smug half-smile on his face as he told her simply, "Your father wants to see you."

The fact that he seemed proud of himself for something set her on edge. Had Hakoda granted Zuko permission to go inside? Was he going to give her special instructions, batter her with all the reasons she had to be extra cautious venturing inside? Did that mean he actually _trusted_ the young Fire Lord?

All of her questions were answered by the storm brewing in her father's expression. It was clear he wasn't happy with whatever Zuko had to say, whatever reassurances he had given, but he was resolved to whatever decision he had made as Chief. And that meant she had no chance of changing his mind.

"A group of men will journey into Amarok and bring back what we find there."

"A group of men? This is _my_ mission. I'm supposed to visit the Eight Immortals—"

"Katara, it's not your place to go." He wasn't budging an inch.

"Not my place? What _is_ my place? Cooking and cleaning and mending? I'm a Master Waterbender!"

"And that's exactly why I want you here to protect the village in my absence."

That helped assuage her pride to a certain extent, but she remembered that smug smile on Zuko's face and prickled again. "Yet you're taking Zuko? He's not even one of us!"

"He's a firebender. He might give us the advantage."

"I can't believe this. I thought the Northern Water Tribe was the only place that discriminated against women," she growled angrily.

Hakoda finally rose to his feet, towering over her with the sternest, darkest look on his face she had ever seen. "There's a reason it's forbidden to enter Amarok, Katara. Now, as your Chief I can command you not to go there, but I had hoped you'd respect my decision as your father."

"Funny that you're only here to treat me like a child when I haven't been one for years," was all she had to say before she stormed out. She didn't look back to see if her words had struck home.

Her footsteps inevitably turned toward Sokka's tent. Without knocking she barged in, her temper boiling to the point that the air around her was chillingly cold. "You have to convince Dad that I'm just as strong and capable of going to Amarok as you are."

He rose from where he was seated beside his wife, probably breaking the news to her of the impending danger he'd be facing. Katara only briefly felt a twinge of guilt over interrupting the scene. "It's not about whether you're strong or capable enough."

"Then what _is_ it about? He refuses to let me go. He even said he'd command me as the _Chief_ not to be able to go with you!"

"Sis, it was Dad who decided that young men of the tribe should go Ice Dodging as their rite of passage instead of heading into the crystal caves. Something happened there that scared him—that scared _all_ of the men. I don't know what it is, but it took convincing to even get him to consider taking a full contingent of warriors and benders in there to save the world."

It was always strange to witness her brother's serious side; through the years he'd managed to keep a balance of his boyish humor and adult responsibility, and she barely saw the latter half. Here it was hitting her in full force and it only served to dump a bucket of cold water on her sizzling ire.

"I should still be able to go. I'm a Master Waterbender, for crying out loud. I can help, I can _heal_ even, I can—"

"Yes, yes, yes, you can. We all know that. That's why Dad trusts _you_ to stay behind. Because if anything happens…"

The truth was like a slap in the face. What Sokka was really saying was that their father thought they might not come back. Not only was her anger nothing but a distant memory, but her confidence was shaken and that same chill was creeping up her spine again.

"Don't even say that. Of course nothing's going to happen." She could see that Suki was frowning in the background.

"Well, you and I might know that, but Dad's one of those that has to see it to believe it," her brother joked, with a ghost of a grin briefly crossing his mouth.

For his sake, both she and Suki managed an awkward chuckle. "Alright. I'll stay."

"Good. Because I expect you to look after Suki, too." He placed a hand on Katara's shoulder, giving her a smile and a squeeze. "Just remember it's not about you being less, Sis."

"Yeah." But she still couldn't resist the urge to give her brother a tight hug.

He returned the gesture, finally pulling away and looping an arm around Suki's shoulders before he took his seat next to her again. "Why don't you go find Zuko? Tell him what you know of Amarok so he can be prepared."

'I already did,' was on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. She knew they wanted some alone time and she'd already deprived them of that. "Sure."

But as she left their tent, she suddenly realized the flight from Ember Island hadn't been that bad after all. There was nothing in the world she wanted more than to be alone. Zuko would just have to wait.

* * *

The group decided to leave sooner rather than later, with the plan to camp outside of Amarok until first light the next day. Whatever those caverns held, Hakoda didn't want to face it in the dark.

Katara was there to see the men off. Sokka and Suki were engaged in their own goodbye, and her father was busy instructing the men staying behind and some of those going with. It left her face-to-face with Zuko, who had the respect to forsake his usual smugness for a grim set of his jaw instead.

"We'll be back and on our way again before you know it," he said quietly, but she could tell the anxiety creeping into many furrowed brows around the campfire had started to sink its fingers into him.

"That's what I'm hoping," was her reply, and she added a smile for good measure. She only hesitated a moment before giving him a tight hug as she had her brother a few hours earlier.

She had to admit she was slightly surprised that he returned the embrace, his chin in her hair before he murmured a reassuring, "I'll look after them."

"Just remember to look after yourself, too."

His only response was another squeeze before he released her, joining the gathering men of her tribe as Hakoda called for their departure. She hadn't gotten a chance to take back what she said to him, but as their eyes met across the crowd, the crinkle of a half-smile on her father's face was enough to prove he knew she hadn't meant a word of it.

Satoru was crying when Sokka joined the men as they shuffled past the gates, and instinctively Katara joined her sister-in-law and nephew, scooping the latter up to sit on her hip as he cried into her shoulder. "Shh, your daddy will be back in no time," she tried to console him, but the boy kept sniffling.

She couldn't blame him. The expressions on the faces left behind were bleak at best. Suki seemed the bravest of all, hers revealing nothing but pensiveness underlined by concern. It wasn't that no one held out hope the endeavor would be a success; she could overhear some of the elder women and wives of those on the expedition already discussing getting things ready for when everyone would return in an estimated two days. But the same fear that had shadowed her father the evening before had fallen over the rest of the village.

"How about we get some dinner, hm?" she eventually ventured, when Satoru seemed to have calmed down enough to talk again. "What do you want, little guy?"

"Sea prunes!"

Both women laughed. It was his mother who ruffled his hair and told him to wash up for supper before turning to Katara for a wry, "He definitely has Water Tribe blood in him."

It dawned on her that she hadn't found out why they were back at the South Pole, when they'd left them on Kyoshi with Suki's family. "Don't you miss your family, Suki?"

"Sometimes. But we visit often enough to keep the homesickness at bay. Besides, Satoru isn't the only one who loves it here."

Katara smiled slightly. "I always thought Sokka was happy adventuring around the world."

"Oh, he was. But I think he always planned to come back home. A person can't be happy flitting around forever, can they? You settled down at the North Pole. Toph took a job in the Fire Nation. Even Aang started spending more and more time in one place over the years."

"I guess you're right." Somehow she never considered herself settling down, but then again, without her friends' intervention she probably never would have left the North Pole. "I'll go ahead and get dinner started," she offered, hoping to halt the conversation before it turned even more personal.

"And I'd better make sure a certain someone hasn't made a complete mess of our tent," the auburn-haired woman said with a laugh.

And that one domestic chore turned into another, and another. Katara kept busy to make sure the minutes ticked by, unwilling to fret and worry every hour away. She finally fell asleep late that night, after all but the last of the fires had been extinguished around the village.

She had a chilling dream. With the icicles looming around her, she was running through the maze of Amarok, shouting for her father, her brother, and Zuko. But all she found was a wall of flames, and the keening howl of the pigeon-wolves overhead. The howls got higher, and louder, until suddenly it wasn't a howl at all but a piercing shriek…

"Katara!"

Suki's voice startled her awake. The flames, the flapping of wings, both were gone. Yet she still heard shrieking in the distance.

"Katara, it was just a dream. Come on, get dressed. A messenger hawk just arrived for you."

"A messenger hawk?" she replied sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. That explained the shrieking at least.

"Yes. From the Earth Kingdom, as best I can tell."

"But who—"

"I don't know! You can read it outside. I let Satoru hold onto it or he would never have let the hawk leave," Suki admitted with slight chagrin.

The thought of two chubby hands ripping her letter to pieces was enough to get her up and out of bed in record time. Fortunately, that thought didn't have to become a reality, as Satoru had already dropped the missive in favor of making a snow fort.

She quickly snatched up the paper, unfolding it and skimming the few lines contained inside. "It's from Aang," she told a waiting Suki, lips pursed as she fully read the contents. "He says that none of the sick benders is getting worse, but they also aren't getting any better. He says if Zuko and I need anything, Appa will always know where to find him…"

"Does he say anything about Toph?"

"No. That's what worries me most." It wasn't very promising news on the whole, but the telling silence on the subject of their friend left her certain the situation there wasn't as manageable as Aang wanted it to be. "I'm sure if we just hurry everything will be alright. She's a fighter. She'll hang in there."

"Hurry, yes. But be careful as well. Imagine if you'd tried to rush into a place like Amarok."

Of course Suki's mention of the ominous place only reminded them of the men potentially fighting for their lives within its hedge-like icy walls at that very moment.

For the remainder of the day, Katara immersed herself in more work, and introducing herself to all the Northerners who had settled with her tribe in hopes of rebuilding after the war. There were more of them than she'd ever have expected, each with their own reasons for heading south. It was just enough to keep her mind off more worrying things, but as she heard more and more stories about people finding their calling helping her family and her home restore its lost glory, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. She'd done nothing to help but run away. When the men returned, she fully intended on apologizing for that—to both the men of her family who would have felt the loss.

That night she was one of the last to finally fall into bed, long after all but the watch fire had been put out. But this time there was no dream; there was no time. It wasn't Suki who woke her but the watchman's young son, told to ask for the 'healer.'

She didn't have a chance to ask what had happened before the boy was scurrying out of her tent, leaving her alone to tug on her tunic and boots in haste. Perhaps one of the women expecting a child had gone into early labor was her only thought.

The child was waiting for her outside of her tent. "What's happened?" she was finally able to question him.

"Papa saw them."

By _them_ she could only assume he meant the men. Without hesitation she was following after the boy's frantic run back to his father's watch post.

"They're about half a mile out now but they're moving fast." She recognized the man as one of those who had fought in the war, relegated to watch duty when his leg was injured in the battle. "They're bearing a stretcher."

Her mind was racing, her heart was pounding. They had no choice but to wait, the single fire flickering nearby and casting ominous shadows across the nearby tents. How many men had fallen into Amarok's icy clutches? Who was being carried back home?

Thankfully she didn't have to wait long. A few minutes elapsed and she could hear the slush of snow beneath the group's boots, and the heavy breaths that testified to their exhausting pace. When the first face finally broke into the circle of light flooding through the village gates, it belonged to her brother.

"Sokka! What happened?"

Rather than answer, he was moving aside so the stretcher could be brought forward, coats piled high over an alarmingly pale Zuko. "He needs your help, now." An account of events would have to wait.

For a moment she was sure her breath had caught in her throat. Yet in less than a second she was by the stretcher's side, now set down beside the fire as more of the men spilled past the gates en route to their homes. There were looks of horror, anguish, and other unspeakable things that only made Katara's heart fell further. She was all the more eager to devote her time to healing her firebending friend.

As she pulled back the fur, she was able to see the wound, charred skin marring his left shoulder and bicep. "He's _burned_," she said in disbelief, though her fingers were already probing the boils to determine the extent of the damage.

"He did it to himself," Sokka told her solemnly, and when she sent him a frown, he clenched his jaw and added a tighter, "It was the only way to stop the bleeding."

"The muscle underneath is almost shredded. Were you attacked by wolves?" But before her brother could answer – if he even would – she was focusing on tempering what she could of Zuko's injury. "I should have never asked any of you to go. Father shouldn't have… Where is he?"

Only now she realized that as the men passed by, his rugged face was missing. The truth of it was written on her brother's face, which suddenly darkened.

"Where is he, Sokka?" she repeated, the glow of her hands fading.

"He's not coming back, Katara."

_Why wouldn't he come back? What is he— _But then it hit her. He wasn't coming back. And it wasn't his choice.

"No…" It was barely more than a whisper. The tears were already welling in her eyes. "No… No…. Sokka, no…"

"You need to concentrate on saving Zuko now, Sis."

He was right. The vice grip around her heart abated enough for her to take a deep breath. She couldn't see anything through the wall of tears in her gaze yet she instinctively reached for Zuko's wounded shoulder again. At least having something to do would help silence the voice screaming in the back of her mind.

_He's not coming back. He's not coming back. He's not coming back._

_He's dead._

"Get him into my tent. And get me some water."

It was ironic how detached her voice sounded, just as it was ironic that she was asking for water when she wiped away more tears than she was sure could fill a basin or two. But it tasted of salt as it ran down her cheeks, and the last thing she wanted to do – to anyone – was rub salt into the wounds.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Alrighty, I didn't have a beta for this. So please, please, please tell me if there are any typos or errors so I can correct them right away. xP For a little while my chapters might come a bit slower; I'm working on creating a new collaborative writing community with a friend of mine so a lot of my time online has been devoted to that project for the moment. However, once we're up and running I'll be able to write my fanfic more religiously. Never fear; I still expect to update at least once a week. :)

Thank you as always to my faithful readers and reviewers! 8'D

* * *

Summer Air

Chapter Nine

* * *

Zuko slept fitfully until noon. Whatever his dreams, he occasionally murmured incoherent phrases and names—including her own. When she reassured him that she was safe and sound, tending his injuries, it didn't offer him any comfort, sweat still beading his upper lip as he continued in restless slumber.

He was feverish when they brought him in, and it took her the better part of an hour to bring it down. Cool compresses still hugged his neck and forehead, the refreshing water held within replaced by her bending whenever needed. The rest of her energy and effort went to the delicate work of reconstructing his torn muscle.

Lunchtime rolled around and it was Satoru whose little footsteps intruded in her tent. While Katara understood her brother's concern, she couldn't help but think it was a rather insulting tactic to send her adorable nephew to try and make her see reason and eat something.

"Aunty Katara, I want sea prunes and you make 'em better than my mama."

"I'm sorry, Satoru, but I'm busy right now." She paused long enough to send the little boy a tired smile. "Did your father send you in here?"

He sheepishly nodded, hands clasped behind his back. "He said I should ask you nicely."

Seeing the chagrined expression on her nephew's face she dried off her hands and made her way to his side, although the hand that didn't settle on his shoulders was pulling back the flap of her tent. "Go tell your dad that I'm _fine_, and if you want really good sea prune stew, you should ask Miss Taka to make you some. She always made the best for me when I was younger."

Thankfully, Satoru was much more forgiving than an adult would have been of her rejection, scampering off with the thought of delicious sea prune stew already filling his head. She could at least appreciate the brief break he'd given her, rubbing her neck and shoulders and parting with a sigh before her attention was caught by movement in the corner of her eye.

"Zuko, you're finally awake," she breathed in relief when she saw his golden gaze trained on her.

"Sorry…" was his hoarse reply, continued only after he'd maneuvered into a seat, good hand flying to the washcloth that fell from his face with the action.

"It's hardly your fault. Besides, it looked much worse than it was. But be careful, it's still—" He reached for the still-mending shoulder and winced when he touched it, prompting her own grimace, "—tender."

"No, Katara. I'm sorry about your father."

She paled considerably. "You don't have to apologize for that."

"He saved my life," he continued, and she didn't know whether the pain in his voice was due to his shoulder or an echo of what was aching in her heart.

For a long moment she was torn. Zuko's injury had been her means of coping, of not facing the news that had already circulated through the village and left a quiet silence looming over the entire place. She still didn't want to accept that Hakoda wasn't just waiting to saunter through the gates before nightfall, with some roaring tale to tell of how he managed to fend off the danger until the rest of the men were safe. If she was told now that there was no hope…

But she'd rather face the truth than run from it, simply steeling herself against any tears that might creep into her eyes or her voice. "What happened?" she asked calmly, as she perched herself on the edge of the chair beside Zuko's bed.

He spared her no expense in his account. It was almost clinical the way he could relate every detail without flinching—until the end. But then again, his audience was a stone-faced young woman wholly resolved against letting even the slightest emotion pass through her expression.

The trip was going well. _Too_ well, Zuko said. After melting most of the icicles out of the way, the group was able to navigate the maze with ease, no pigeon-wolves in sight and following Hakoda's instructions based on his prior experience. He'd been to the shrine inside, as it turned out, and knew exactly what they would find there. The stone gourd was in Sokka's possession, she was told, and the next location was simply scrawled on the wall: Xian.

But she didn't care about any of that.

It was on their way back to the entrance of the maze that calamity struck. One of the men stumbled and scraped his arm on an icicle. 'Just a scratch,' he had insisted, but it soon turned into more than that. While he wasn't badly injured, the scent of blood brought the pigeon-wolves out in droves. Before that there had been a tremulous hope that the Fire Nation's repeated attacks had decimated the predatory population.

Zuko held his bandaged shoulder as he explained that because he held the flame that lit the way, the animals targeted him first. When he fell to the snow under the weight of the one that got his arm, the light went out and all hell broke loose. His best estimation of what happened was that some of the men managed to drag him to safety as Hakoda drew the rest of the creatures the opposite direction, back into the heart of Amarok.

"After I burned my shoulder to stop the bleeding, everything went black. I guess you'll have to ask Sokka about the rest," he told her with a frown, still massaging his wound.

It took a moment for her to find her voice, uncertain at first if it would crack under the pressure of the clamp squeezing her heart inside her chest. "He wouldn't tell me anything."

"Give him some time. He's the Chief now. It's probably hard for him to accept."

It was her turn to frown, finally breaking her oath to maintain her emotionless façade. "I don't think anything's official…" Was Sokka really going to take the job? He was so young, and— But Zuko was wincing again, and she was reminded that she had a duty to her patient. "Lay back down and I'll work on your shoulder some more."

He was already reclining again but shaking his head at the same time. "If you don't mind, I'd rather just…rest awhile. I feel like I haven't slept well in a long time."

_It's because you haven't, _she wanted to say. _Neither of us has._ But she bit her tongue.

"Sure, get some rest. I'll go fix something to eat. It'll be ready when you wake up."

"Thank you, Katara."

Of course, she had no plans of making them dinner at all. Her steps beelined straight for her brother's tent.

She was surprised to find him alone. Suki and Satoru were both still at Taka's, probably taking an afternoon nap following a filling lunch of sea prune stew. Or rather, that was the explanation she conjured up, for when she entered the tent, her brother didn't say a word.

"So you're going to be the Chief," she began softly, after she'd taken a seat across from him, legs folded and hands on her knees.

"Well, I didn't think you wanted the job." He cracked a half-smirk.

"I'm being serious, Sokka. Are you sure you're ready for something like this?" She wore a perpetual frown.

After a sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair. For once he was wearing it down. "I've been ready ever since they left me as the only warrior in the whole village."

"Oh, give me a break. We were _kids_ then!"

"Come on, Sis. You know as well as I do we grew up pretty fast without either of our parents around."

She simply frowned some more. Lately, she'd been realizing just how much growing up she still had left to do, no matter how mature she might have been for her age back then. Finally she opted for a quiet, "You're still young, Sokka. And you've got Suki, and your son, and another child on the way—"

"And they support my decision. We always knew it would come to this _some_day. Look, I'm just as upset that Dad is gone."

"It hardly seems like it!" Now she was coming unraveled, on her feet and pacing, one hand across her chest and the other toying with the end of her hair. "You come back from this nightmare and just tell me he's dead and shove me into a tent with Zuko!"

"Katara, calm down." Her latest outburst had more than likely drawn the attention of a passerby or two outside of the tent. "He needed a healer and you're the best I know."

"Right. I forgot there actually _is _something I'm good at."

"Is that what this is about? Because you didn't get to come along like you wanted to? After the way things turned out, I'd think even you could realize it was for the best that you stayed behind," he muttered angrily.

She knew he was right, and even the sight of her brother growing perturbed was enough to help her rein in her temper. "No, it's not about _that_, Sokka." But only a little bit.

"Then what? Sure, I appreciate your concern, but not when it comes with expectations. And don't try to deny it. I'm sorry that you're just about the only one who has no idea what you want to do with the rest of your life, but I'm not about to let your insecurity talk me out of doing what I know I should. I'm _happy_ to lead our people in Dad's stead. I'm _happy_ to stay in the South Pole with my family. I'm _happy_ and I just wish you could be the same."

She was in tears by the time he was through, but she stubbornly refused to let them spill down her face. "How can you be happy about anything when Dad is dead?!"

"Because he didn't die in vain!"

And with that, all she could hear were Zuko's pained words. _He saved my life._ He saved all their lives. If only she could have been there…

"Katara," her brother finally said, reaching for her shoulder. By now more than a few tears had graced her cheeks. She jerked away before he could touch her. "Katara, don't let it be in vain for you. He died to save all of us, and Toph, and the whole world."

Yet the dam had broken and as the floodgates of her tears opened wide, the last thing she wanted to hear was that her father had died for _her_.

Her only retreat was her tent. Zuko was sleeping, so she was able to curl up on her pallet of furs and cry into her pillow with abandon. All of her pent-up grief came tumbling out; she cried more than she imagined she ever had since her mother died. Everything her brother had said cut her to the quick, knowing full well that she was unhappy with the solitary life she'd chosen away from friends and family and sequestered in the North Pole. That even he – goofy, fun-loving, comedic Sokka – could see through the veil of her escape was devastating.

It was only a few minutes into her silent sobbing that she felt the touch on her back. Gentle and imploring, it barely startled her but was more than enough to bring her bleary-eyed focus from the cushion of her pillow—to find Zuko standing over her.

"You went to see your brother?"

She pulled her knees up when he took a seat on the edge of her pallet and nodded, futilely wiping the back of a wrist across her tearstained face.

"Did he tell you what happened?"

For a split-second she contemplated shaking her head, but realized he had told her. Her father had saved everyone. That was all she needed to know. Reluctantly she nodded, and when Zuko opened his arms she immediately moved into them for a tight hug where she could bury her face in his good shoulder and cry all over again.

He was warm and strong, and that was comforting enough to keep the more violent sobs at bay. It helped that she knew he understood her pain to a certain degree, having lost his mother when he was young himself. She didn't say anything and the hand that stroked her back as she cried told her there was no need.

"I'm sorry," she finally whispered when she drew away, wiping at her nose with her sleeve.

"You shouldn't apologize. I'm sure you probably needed that."

She was able to slightly chuckle at that, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Yes, even I have stupid girl moments where I just lose it and look awful afterward."

"I think you look just as beautiful as ever."

If she hadn't just cried her eyes out, she might have burst into tears all over again. Instead, she blushed as brightly as a fire lily and sat a bit straighter, putting just a smidge more distance between them. "Thanks."

He seemed to notice her discomfort, shifting away from her with a hand massaging his shoulder again. "I know this may be a bad time, but would you mind maybe working on my shoulder again? It's still a little tight." Whether it truly was or he was simply giving her something to do, she jumped at the opportunity.

As she worked her bending through his sore muscle, she finally was able to concentrate on the task still at hand. "What was the name of the place we're supposed to go next again?"

"Xian. It's at the Western Air Temple. I only know that much because there were records of when it was destroyed in the Fire Nation archives. I'm not sure if we'll find anything there but it's where we're headed."

"Maybe as the home of one of the Immortals, it would be protected…" But it was only a small hope, since she'd seen firsthand the decimation the Fire Nation had caused across the world.

"We can definitely hope so. If nothing else, we ask Aang for help after all, right?"

"That's right; I got a letter from him while you were gone."

"Good news or bad?"

She grimaced slightly and removed her hands from his arm so she could fetch the letter and show him. "Both, I guess. I think we should probably get going as soon as you feel up to it."

"Are you sure—" And she knew he was thinking about her mourning again.

"I'm sure."

They chose to leave at dawn the following day. Sokka was there to meet them, and he handed over the gourd they'd retrieved from Amarok. It joined all the other relics wrapped safely and stowed away in Appa's saddle.

"I'm sorry I won't get to be there for the official ceremony," she told her brother as she gave him a hug. Truthfully, she'd only remembered the village would be holding one after she'd made her plans with Zuko the night before.

"Saving the world is a bit more important than drums and dancing, don't you think?" he quipped, before shooting Zuko a look over her head. "Take care of her. I still need her to deliver Suki's baby. I may be the Chief soon but there's still no way I'm doing that."

She had laughed, Zuko had smiled, and they'd shared a look over her brother's shoulder. They'd certainly learned a lot about looking out for each other and their journey together had hardly begun.


End file.
